EXPERIENCES IN ARIZONA, 1879.
In Arizona.--An Epistle to the World.--Birthday Celebrated in St.
George.--Travels in Arizona.--Hunt with Pelone, the Apache Chief.--A
Visit to the Zunies.--Travels with Lot Smith.--Dream.--Letters.
On New Year's Day, 1879, Elder Woodruff moved to his new brick home
next door south of the Valley House. The old Valley House had been his
first mountain home. On the third of the month, in company with Moses
Thatcher, he started on a tour of the southern counties. One of the
chief purposes of this tour was to organize local boards of trade.
While they were at Nephi on the 6th, Elder Thatcher received word of
his appointment to fill the vacancy in the Quorum occasioned by the
death of Elder Orson Hyde. They reached St. George on the 20th of the
month.
On February 7th Elder Woodruff found it necessary to go into exile
because of the special effort at that time to prosecute those in Plural
Marriage. "For the first time in my life I have had to flee from
my enemies for the gospel's sake, or for any other cause. They are
trying to arrest me for obeying the law of God in reference to Plural
Marriage." To escape his pursuers he went to Arizona where he remained
a couple of weeks, and then returned to St. George. While there in the
Temple on Washington's birthday he wrote an epistle to the world, dated
February 22nd, 1879, from which the following is taken:
EPISTLE OF ELDER WILFORD WOODRUFF, ONE OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES.
_To the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and to all the
world, greeting:--_
I feel desirous once more, while in the flesh, by the word of God
and testimony of Jesus Christ, to bear my testimony unto you as the
Church and Kingdom of God, established on the earth by the God of
heaven in this last dispensation and fulness of times; {507} I also
wish to bear my testimony to all nations under heaven, to emperors,
kings, presidents, statesmen, governors, judges, Jew, and Gentile,
and to all rulers, and the ruled who dwell upon the face of the whole
earth. My testimony is this unto all men and nations, that you live
in the day and hour of the judgments of God Almighty. You live in the
day and generation when the God of Israel has set His hand to perform
His work, His strange work in the latter-days. You live in the age in
which God will bring to pass the fulfilment of that flood of prophecy
and revelation which has been spoken by all the prophets since the
world began, which stands recorded in the sacred books of divine truth;
and the fulfilment of these revelations will involve the destiny of
the whole world, Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, high and low, saint
and sinner, Babylon and Zion. Therefore, prepare yourselves, O! ye
inhabitants of the earth, for the hour of God's judgment is at the
door. As it was in the days of Noah and of Lot, so shall it be in the
days of the coming of the Son of Man.
I address myself first to the Saints of God, who have entered into
covenant with the Lord and have been ordained unto the holy priesthood.
If you are living your religion, and enjoy the spirit of inspiration,
which is your duty and privilege, you know as God lives that Joseph
Smith was a prophet of God; that he received the administration of
angels; that he brought forth the Book of Mormon, and translated it by
the power of God. You know he received the fulness of the Everlasting
Gospel, and the holy priesthood and apostleship and the keys thereof;
and that he organized the Church of Christ, the only true and living
Church upon the face of the whole earth, with its gifts and graces,
with which the Lord is "well pleased." You do know Joseph Smith, the
Prophet, left his testimony upon the earth and sealed that testimony
with his blood, and that testament is in force upon the world, and that
testament is filled with the revelations of God, that stand upon its
pages like flames of living fire, ready to be fulfilled upon all the
inhabitants of the earth. In this testament the Lord has commanded His
servants to go to all the world and preach this gospel of the kingdom
to every creature, as far as doors are open. He also commanded His
servants to visit New York, Albany, Boston, and all the notable cities
and villages of the world, reproving them for their ungodly deeds,
{508} and warning them of the desolation and utter destruction which
awaits them, if they reject the testimony of the servants of God. "With
you, saith the Lord Almighty, I will rend their kingdoms, for I will
shake not only the earth, but the starry heavens shall tremble; you
cannot see it now, but soon you will see it and know that I am God."
You Latter-day Saints, do you not know these things are true? You do,
and so do I, for the spirit of God bears record, and the record is
truth, and truth abideth forever. Under the circumstances, what manner
of men and women ought we to be? Are we prepared as a people for the
great events which await us; which await both Zion and Babylon? Judge
ye! What is our duty as Saints of the living God? It is our duty to
humble ourselves before the Lord and call upon His name, until we are
filled with the Holy Ghost and the spirit of inspiration, which is the
light of Christ. Pay our tithes and offerings, keep the commandments of
God and have faith in His word, remember and honor the ordinances we
have observed, and the covenants and obligations we have entered into
in the holy places and temples of our God. We should unite ourselves
together in a temporal as well as in a spiritual point of view, as
directed by the wise men of Israel. We should seek to build up the
Kingdom and Zion of our God, and not ourselves alone. When we do these
things we are prepared as a people to let our prayers ascend into the
ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth, and they will be heard and answered upon
our heads. Again, this testament which Joseph Smith left, contains a
revelation and commandment from God, out of heaven, concerning the
patriarchal order of marriage. The Lord has commanded us to have our
wives and children sealed to us, for time and eternity, that we may
have them with us in our family organizations in the resurrection
to dwell with us forever in the eternal worlds, that we may have an
increase of posterity forever in connection with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
and all the ancient patriarchs. I would say to all Israel, treat your
wives and children kindly, and keep the commandments of God and trust
in Him, and He will fight your battles. And I will say, in the name of
Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, that "Mormonism" will live
and prosper, Zion will flourish, and the Kingdom of God will stand in
power and glory and dominion as Daniel saw it, when this nation is
broken to pieces as a potter's vessel and laid in the {509} dust, and
brought to judgment, or God never spoke by my mouth. Therefore I say
to all the Saints throughout the world, be faithful and true to your
God and to your religion, to your families and to yourselves. Jesus
of Nazareth has suffered death on the cross for the redemption of the
world, and his apostles followed his example for the word of the Lord
and testimony of Jesus Christ, and Joseph Smith proved to God, angels,
and men that he would and did abide in his covenants unto death, and
none of us shall be called to do anything more. We certainly, any of
us, would be ashamed to deny the faith, to accommodate our enemies,
then meet the prophets and apostles in the spirit world. May God forbid
that this should be the case with any of the blood of Ephraim. I wish
in this testimony to say that the time is not far distant when the rich
men among the Jews will be called upon to use their abundant wealth to
gather the dispersed of Judah, and purchase the ancient dwelling places
of their fathers in and about Jerusalem, and rebuild the holy city and
temple.
For the fulness of the Gentiles has come in, and the Lord has decreed
that the Jews should be gathered from all the Gentile nations where
they have been driven, into their own land, in fulfillment of the
words of Moses their law-giver. And this is the will of your great
Eloheim, O house of Judah, and whenever you shall be called upon to
perform this work, the God of Israel will help you. You have a great
future and destiny before you and you cannot avoid fulfilling it; you
are the royal chosen seed, and the God of your father's house has
kept you distinct as a nation for eighteen hundred years, under all
the oppression of the whole Gentile world. You may not wait until you
believe on Jesus of Nazareth, but when you meet with Shiloh your king,
you will know him; your destiny is marked out, you cannot avoid it. It
is true that after you return and gather your nation home, and rebuild
your City and Temple, that the Gentiles may gather together their
armies to go against you to battle, to take you a prey and to take you
as a spoil, which they will do, for the words of your prophets must be
fulfilled; but when this affliction comes, the living God, that led
Moses through the wilderness, will deliver you, and your Shiloh will
come and stand in your midst and will fight your battles; and you will
know him, and the afflictions of the Jews will be at an end, while
the destruction of the Gentiles will be so {510} great that it will
take the whole house of Israel who are gathered about Jerusalem, seven
months to bury the dead of their enemies, and the weapons of war will
last them seven years for fuel, so that they need not go to any forest
for wood. These are tremendous sayings--who can bear them? Nevertheless
they are true, and will be fulfilled, according to the sayings of
Ezekiel, Zechariah, and other prophets. Though the heavens and the
earth pass away, not one jot or tittle will fall unfulfilled.
I would say to the Lamanites, if I could speak to them understandingly,
that you are also a branch of the house of Israel, and chiefly of the
house of Joseph, and your forefathers have fallen through the same
examples of unbelief and sins, as have the Jews, and you, as their
posterity, have wandered in sin and darkness for many generations; and
you, like the Jews, have been driven and trampled under the foot of
the Gentiles, and put to death through your wars with each other, and
with the white man, until you are almost destroyed. But there is still
a redemption and salvation for a remnant of you in the latter days. It
is time for you to cease shedding each other's blood or making war upon
your fellow-man. Cease to destroy one another, learn to cultivate the
earth, and raise your food therefrom; call upon the Great Spirit to
protect you and deliver you from bondage and darkness, and the Great
Spirit will hear you and deliver you, and a remnant of you will again
become a delightsome people as your forefathers were when they kept the
commandments of God.
Could I speak to the Ten Tribes of Israel, in the north country, I
would say, call upon the God of your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
that your prophets may come in remembrance before God, that they may
hear His voice and no longer stay themselves, but smite the rocks, that
the mountains of ice may flow down at their presence. "A highway shall
be cast up in the midst of the great deep;" their enemies shall become
a prey unto them. Bring forth your records and rich treasures unto the
children of Ephraim, the servants of the Lord in the land of Zion, and
the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at your presence,
and you shall fall down and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by
the hands of the servants of God, even the children of Ephraim, and
you shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy; behold this is the
"blessing of the everlasting God upon the tribes {511} of Israel, and
the richer blessing upon the head of Ephraim and his fellows."
These events referred to are but a very limited portion of the
revelations of God which are about to be fulfilled upon the heads of
this generation. I wish to warn all nations of the judgments of God
which are at their doors. Thrones will be cast down, nations will be
overturned, anarchy will reign, all legal barriers will be broken
down, and the laws will be trampled in the dust. You are about to be
visited with war, the sword, famine, pestilence, plague, earthquakes,
whirlwinds, tempests, and with the flame of devouring fire; by fire
and with the sword will God plead with all flesh, and the slain of
the Lord will be many. The anger of the Lord is kindled and His sword
is bathed in heaven, and is about to fall upon Idumea, or the world.
And who is able to abide these things? And who will stand when He
appeareth? The fig trees are leaving, and the signs of all heaven and
earth indicate the coming of the Son of Man. The seals are about to be
opened, the plagues to be poured forth. Your rivers and seas will be
turned to blood and to gall. And the inhabitants of the earth will die
of plagues. And the unbelief of great Babylon, with the whole Christian
world, will not make the truths of God without effect. Let the world
look, for example, at the ancient cities of the nations. Where are
Thebes, Tyre, Sidon, Nineveh, and Babylon the Great, which were built
to defy all time, and all power but God Himself? They were laid in
the dust and their inhabitants destroyed, when they were ripened in
iniquity, and this too, in fulfilment of the word of God unto them
through the voices of righteous men, who spake as they were moved upon
by the Holy Ghost. In like manner was Jerusalem destroyed and the Jews
scattered among the Gentiles in fulfilment of the words of Moses and
Jesus Christ. Will the Lord any more spare the cities of the Gentiles
and Great Babylon than he spared the ancient cities of the Jews? No,
verily no. The question may be asked, why these judgments are coming
upon the world in the last days? I answer, because of the wickedness
of the inhabitants thereof. The very proclamation of the angel of
God when he delivered the fulness of the Gospel as revealed in the
Revelations of St. John was, "crying with a loud voice, fear God and
give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment is come." And when that
proclamation {512} was made to Joseph Smith the Prophet, it was half
a century ago, "light has come into the world, and men love darkness
rather than light, because their deeds are evil." The Lord has raised
up prophets and apostles who have cried aloud to this generation with
the proclamation of the Gospel for half a century, and warned them of
the judgments which were to come, and the inhabitants of the earth have
rejected this testimony, and shed the blood of the Lord's anointed and
persecuted the Saints of God, and the consequence is this: "Darkness
covers the earth, and gross darkness the people," and the Lord is
withholding His spirit from the inhabitants of the earth, and the devil
is ruling over his own kingdom and wickedness and abominations of every
kind have increased a hundred fold within the last few years, until the
whole earth is filled with murders, whoredoms, blasphemies, and every
crime in the black catalogue that was manifest in the antediluvian
world and in Sodom and Gomorrah, until the whole earth groans under
its abominations, and the heavens weep, and all eternity is pained,
and the angels are waiting the great command to go forth and reap down
the earth. This testimony I bear to all nations under heaven, and I
know it is true by the inspiration of Almighty God, and the decision
of the Supreme Court of the United States bears me out in the opinion
that the constitution gives me the privilege of enjoying my belief,
and faith and opinion in religion. Therefore the execution of all
these tremendous events I leave for the God of heaven, which He most
assuredly will bring about. What I have spoken I have spoken, and I
excuse not myself, and "though the heavens and the earth pass away, my
words will not pass away, but will all be fulfilled," saith the Lord of
Hosts.
I subscribe myself an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, and member of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
WILFORD WOODRUFF.
On his birthday, March 1st, Elder Woodruff was greeted by a hundred
women and forty-eight men, who assembled in the Temple for the purpose
of aiding him in the ordinances for his kindred dead. For that occasion
Mrs. Emily Spencer, and Moses Farnsworth composed in his honor verses
containing congratulations and praise.
{513} On the 6th of March, accompanied by Erastus Snow, he left St.
George at three o'clock in the morning. They went direct to Kanab
where they held a two days meeting, and then with William Johnson, and
Brigham Y. Duffin he began his pilgrimage and exile among the colonies
of Saints and among the Indians of Arizona. The following account of
his travels is taken from the _Deseret News,_ Weekly, 1879, page 314:
SUNSET, ARIZONA, May 29th, 1879.
_Editors Deseret News:_
As I have been traveling for a season as a missionary among the Saints
and Lamanites in Arizona, and have taken observations of the country,
men and things, I have thought perhaps a few dottings by the way would
not be uninteresting to the numerous readers of the _News_. After
crossing over the great Colorado River at Lee's Ferry, and crossing
the hog's back, which seemed to be the most difficult and dangerous
road for loaded teams to pass over that I ever saw, I indulged in the
thought and hope that not many years would pass before a suspension
wire bridge would span that river many miles below its present
crossing, which would save fifty or one hundred miles of weary travel,
and entirely escape the dangerous crossing of that terrible mountain.
We viewed the Colorado River far below the ferry, confined within its
narrow bed by solid perpendicular stone walls two thousand feet high,
which made the stream look quite diminutive. It being a very dry season
throughout the whole country, the wells, tanks, and springs were dry
in a great measure. It makes it very difficult for companies to travel
this season owing to the want of water for both man and beast. The
distance from Willow Springs to Moan Copy is some fifteen miles over a
strange country of a barren desert of rocks, sand hills, mounds, gravel
beds, and many curious rocks which look as though they were hewn, some
of them twenty feet long by twelve to eighteen inches wide, and twelve
to eighteen inches thick. The hills are of thin slate in a decayed
state, rocks are in every shape of men, women, children, and palaces.
The country is without water, grass, or soil, until we arrive at the
Moan Copy wash bottoms which contain a large quantity of good land,
covered with vegetation and soil suitable for wheat or any cultivated
crops.
{514} The present settlement, in a fort form, is located on a hill a
hundred feet above the cultivated land, in the midst of sand hills.
A good spring of water is a hundred feet below the fort, the water
is brought into the fort by a hydraulic ram, placed there by John W.
Young. This saves much labor, as it avoids the necessity of carrying
the water a hundred feet up a steep hill. There is a townsite laid out
two miles north of the fort, called Tuba, which stands upon a plat
of good soil, with good springs of water. A number of families are
building upon the new location. I consider Moan Copy a very important
location in many respects for a settlement of the Saints, as an
outpost, and especially its connections with the surrounding Lamanites
of the Moqui and Navajo tribes. I held many interesting meetings with
both the Saints and Lamanites, and with the Indian chiefs at Moan Copy.
The great change which has of late come over all the tribes of Indians
in Utah, Arizona, and Mexico, from war to peace, is visible to every
observing mind and could have been accomplished only by the power of
God. A few years ago neither "Mormon" nor "Gentile" could travel with
any safety among the Navajo, Apache, or other Indian tribes of this
country; while to-day any white man can travel, either alone or in
company, with safety, if he will attend to his own business and not
interfere with the Indians. Many of the Lamanites are uniting with the
Saints at Moan Copy, Sunset, and other settlements in cultivating the
earth, raising wheat, corn, and vegetables, and the brethren are doing
what they can to help them. A young man by the name of Polakkah, son
of the Chief Cashaby, has a prospect of being a benefit to his tribe.
He speaks seven different languages, including good Spanish, and some
English. He is raising wheat at Moan Copy, and learning English. He is
intelligent, and active, is trying to understand the geography of the
earth. The Indian tradition is that there is a new sun every day. But
while he was trying to understand that the earth revolved upon its axis
and we have but one sun, his faith was tried. While on a visit to San
Francisco, he saw the sun sink into the sea and the water put it out.
He could not see for a while how it could come out again, but being
informed the earth was round, and the sun was hidden from view by the
rotation of the earth, he became reconciled.
Brother John W. Young has established a trading store at {515} Moan
Copy, and is furnishing the Lamanites goods for their wool and the
brethren goods for their labor, which is a benefit for both the Saints
and Lamanites. He pays a liberal price for wool and sells goods very
reasonably. This brings the Moqui and Navajo tribes, both chiefs and
people, to Moan Copy to trade. He has bought some thirty thousand
pounds of wool this season, baled it up and sent it to Utah to be
manufactured. He laid the corner-stone of a woolen factory at Moan Copy
on the first day of May, and it, with its surroundings, was dedicated
to the Lord. The walls will be built of stone; plenty of good rock can
be obtained within a few rods of the building. The walls were being
rapidly erected when I left. If the factory proves successful in its
operation, it will be a great blessing to both the Saints and Lamanites.
In company with John W. Young and several other brethren, I left Moan
Copy on the 17th of April, to visit the San Francisco Mountain country.
We camped at night upon the Little Colorado River, and found the
stream rather low. On the 18th we visited the Black Falls, where both
the bed of the river and shore were composed of black volcanic rock.
A short distance above, the river could easily be taken out, without
any dam, to irrigate a good deal of land, supposed to be suitable
for cultivation, and the surrounding country is very suitable for an
extensive herd ground. On the 19th we nooned at the Grand Falls, the
main fall we judged to be about one hundred feet. On the night of the
20th we camped at Turkey Tanks, which are composed of hard volcanic
rock; the one we watered at is about one hundred feet by twenty-five
wide, and ten feet deep; the water formed from rain and snow, was
clear, cold and good; another tank, twice the size was about three
hundred yards below. Our barometer gave the altitude six thousand nine
hundred feet. The country abounds with deer, antelope, and turkey which
drink at these tanks. We saw twenty antelope and heard the turkeys
gobble before we were out of bed. We entered on the east side of that
noble pine forest, which surrounds the San Francisco Mountain, and
spent the night of the 21st at the Flagstaff Springs, eight miles south
of San Francisco Springs. We found three men at the Flagstaff Springs,
building and farming; they were raising good wheat, potatoes, early
corn, squashes, and vegetables without irrigation, their altitude {516}
being seven thousand five hundred and seventy-five feet. On the morning
of the 22nd, we drove eight miles to San Francisco Springs, which have
been purchased by John W. Young, who has erected two buildings and done
a good deal of fencing; his house and springs stand at the north end of
one of the finest parks, either natural or artificial, I ever saw; it
contains about 4,000 acres, without stick, stone, or bush, with a soil
as black and rich as the Missouri bottoms. It is shielded on the north,
east, and west by the San Francisco mountains and hills, and open to
the south, and is surrounded on every side by that immense forest of
giant pine timber. I look upon this as one of the finest bodies of pine
timber in America. There is no underbrush and the trees stand from 6
inches to 4 feet in diameter, and from 50 to 150 feet in height, and a
good deal of it from 20 to 40 feet to the first limb. The whole face of
the earth, both forest and parks, is covered with a heavy body of good
nutritious bunch grass, even to the very top of the highest volcanic
cones, that we ascended to the height of 10,000 feet, and there seems
to be range enough to support tens of thousands of horses, cattle, and
sheep. We rode our mules on to the top of a cone some 2,000 feet above
the park, where we had a view of all the surrounding country, as far as
the eye could extend, and we saw the same immense forest interspersed
with parks from 100 to 10,000 acres. The altitude of San Francisco
spring is 8,040 feet; still the men eight miles south, who had spent
several winters there, said they had but little snow and that the
stock kept fat all the year round. All this country abounds with game.
Brother Young's men had commenced plowing to put in wheat and spring
crops. We had to travel, as the road ran in a circle nearly all around
the mountain, about 120 miles from Moan Copy, when, if a road could be
located on the north side of the mountain to the Little Colorado River,
Moan Copy could be reached in half the distance.
I left Moan Copy on the 14th instant to visit Sunset. On my arrival
at the Little Colorado River, I found a great change had taken place;
the drouth had almost entirely dried up the river for 50 miles; no
water running at Black or Grand Falls, only a little found in pockets
sufficient to water our horses, some herders having removed their stock
from the Black Falls, not getting water for them to drink. Brother
August Wilcken accompanied {517} me to Grand Falls, at which place he
turned west to the San Francisco mountains. I continued on south until
I arrived at Sunset on the evening of the 17th instant, where I was
welcomed by Brother Lot Smith and many Saints. I here found plenty
of water in the Little Colorado River to irrigate all the cultivated
lands and to run to the grist mill. I was agreeably disappointed in
the general appearance of the country surrounding Sunset and Brigham
City. I could not have formed a correct idea of the country from any
description I had ever heard of it. I found these two settlements
standing on the borders of the Little Colorado River, surrounded by a
large open country, which was covered with the very best of grass for
many miles upon every hand. Ten thousand head of horses and cattle
could keep fat without going many miles from the settlements, and there
is a belt of good thrifty forest of cottonwood timber, a mile wide,
for 50 miles up and down the Little Colorado River, and sufficient dry
wood strewn along the bottom to supply the settlements with fuel for
many years, without cutting any green timber. The cottonwood groves are
sufficiently dense to give herds of deer hiding grounds all the year
round. On Sunday the 18th, I met the Saints of both settlements, in the
dining hall of Sunset, (some 55 feet in length) which was completely
filled. I spoke to them during the forenoon and afternoon some two
hours and a half; a good spirit prevailed.
The people of these settlements all live in the United Order, and eat
at one family table. I stopped with Brother Lot Smith who is president
of the Stake. I took my meals with him at the family table, the center
table being 45 feet in length and the side table 50 feet, making
three rows of persons. Each man has his place at the table with his
family with him, the same as though he were with his family in his
own house. Prayer is always offered at the table morning and evening
before eating, and blessing is then asked. And this is practiced in all
places connected with these settlements, at the sheep herd, saw mill
and dairies. There seemed to be universal satisfaction among both male
and female with this order of things. I conversed with several of the
sisters. They preferred it to cooking at home. All fared alike, the
president, priest, and people. If any were sick they were nourished.
If any man was called on a mission he had no anxiety about his family,
knowing they would fare as well as the rest. If any man {518} died his
family would have a support as long as they lived with the people, and
I must say that I felt in spirit that these settlements, in connection
with Orderville, were living in the United Order as near as any people
could in mortality, until a better way shall be revealed. I could see
many advantages they had above those who were living, each man for
himself. They were out of the reach of temptation to quarrel with
their neighbors over water ditches, or over their neighbor's stock
getting into their crops. They were all interested alike in the use of
the water, or the preservation of their crops. All is theirs, stock
and crop, as though one man owned the whole, and instead of eating
up or wasting their substance, they are daily getting rich and are
enabled to assist other settlements to bread and means. The presidents
and leaders are as hard laboring men as any in the settlements, and,
until I can learn a better way, I feel to say with every sentiment of
my heart to Orderville, Sunset, Brigham City, Pleasant Valley, and
every other settlement living in the Order, go ahead and God bless
you; and, as President Young instructed the Saints who came to form
these settlements, to get as near the United Order as they could; and
as President Taylor and the Apostles advocate the same principle, I
hope that all the priesthood will sustain, by their prayers, faith and
influence, those who are striving to live in this United Order, until
something more perfect shall be revealed unto us. It appears to me that
the further we withdraw from this union into individuality of gardens,
lots, orchards, cows, pigs, and chickens, the further we withdraw
from the United Order, and the more we open the door for selfishness,
temptation, and fault-finding with each other, the same as before we
attempted to unite, and would open a door to give each man an excuse
to spend his time in attending to his individual affairs, instead of
laboring for the general good of all.
The Sunset settlement consists of 25 families, 24 men, 30 women, 66
children; total 120 souls. They have 13 men at work on the farm; they
have put in 200 acres of wheat, 100 of corn, 15 of cane, 15 acres of
lucern, and 5 of other vegetables, besides 25 acres of wheat for the
Lamanites. They have 65 brood mares, 30 yearlings, 21 young colts, and
15 horses; also 30 oxen, 160 milk cows, 257 dry stock, not including
this year's calves; also 1,200 sheep, and 500 lambs.
{519} Brigham City consists of 40 families, 38 men, 40 women, 122
children; total souls, 200. They have ten men on the farm, who have put
in 155 acres of wheat, 50 of corn, 20 of cane, 10 of lucern, 5 of oats,
5 of potatoes, 18 of orchard, and 15 of other vegetables. They have 25
brood mares, 7 colts, 15 horses; also 200 cows, 150 calves, 70 oxen,
280 young stock; also 700 sheep, and 500 lambs. They have 40 wagons,
a blacksmith and wagon maker. These settlements have a good water
grist mill, carding machine, steam sawmill, and a good pottery, all in
successful operation.
On the 22nd, I visited the sheep herd at McNeil Springs, in the pine
and oak forests, 32 miles from Sunset. The house stands upon the bench,
but the spring is in a deep gorge, so steep it is difficult for men to
bring water up to the house. The water is guided into several large
pine troughs, where 1,000 sheep drink daily. The wild cats are so
numerous that it is difficult to guard the lambs by night from cats.
We visited Pleasant Valley on the 23rd. This is the location of the
dairy of the various settlements in the United Order, and is one of the
finest valleys in Arizona. It is five miles in length, and three miles
in breadth, covered with the best of grass, except a lake of fresh
water which covers many acres, where the horses, cows, oxen, deer,
antelope, and turkeys come down to drink. I was informed the deer and
antelope came into the valley daily to drink, at times as many as a
hundred antelope in a drove, and that this lake, both fall and spring,
was covered with thousands of ducks and geese, the ducks remaining
throughout the year. Orvil E. Bates presides over this settlement
and is directing the cheese and butter making department. I took a
horse-back ride in the evening with Brother Bates to take a view of the
country. We saw 15 deer, 17 antelopes, and 5 gobbler turkeys during the
day.
On the 24th, we held a meeting at Pleasant Valley with the Saints.
Brother Lot Smith, George Lake, and myself addressed the people. A good
spirit prevailed. At the close of the meeting we drove 10 miles to the
United Order sawmill. We saw a dozen turkeys on the road. This steam
sawmill is one used at Trumbull, and has a capacity of sawing 10,000
feet of lumber daily; stands in the midst of that vast pine and oak
forest, some 45 miles south of San Francisco Mountain. I saw groves of
white oak {520} from the size of hoop poles to three feet in diameter
and 50 feet in height.
On Sunday, 25th, we held a meeting forenoon and afternoon, with the
people at the mill. I spoke about one hour and a half, followed by
Brothers Lot Smith, L. H. Savage, O. E. Bates, and W. C. McLellan; a
good spirit prevailed.
On the 26th, after killing and dressing a large antelope, and taking
a portion of the meat with us, we left our friends at the mill and
returned to Sunset on the eve of the 27th.
I have had an interview with Brother Lewellyn Harris concerning
his administrations among the Lamanites sick with the small-pox.
He confirms as truth all that was published in the _Deseret News_
concerning it.
WILFORD WOODRUFF.
On the 24th of June with Lot Smith and others he made a journey to a
number of settlements in that district of the country. The 25th found
him at Woodruff, a small town on the Little Colorado, that had been
named in his honor. The people of the town represented in some manner
the persistency that characterized the life of Apostle Woodruff.
An existence along the Little Colorado, especially when it depends
upon the permanence of dams constructed on its quicksands, is both
precarious and difficult.
Elder Woodruff always had the happy faculty of adjusting himself to the
conditions of people wherever he was. He was as much at home on the
farm as in the pulpit or in the temple. He helped the brethren gather
their crops and labored in the fields.
During the latter part of July, Elder Woodruff went to Snowflake where,
with President Jesse M. Smith, he took up his labors among the Saints.
While there, during the early part of August, he accepted an invitation
to go on a deer hunt with Pelone, an Apache chief. On this occasion,
though fond of hunting, he was much more interested in preaching the
gospel to the chief and other Indians than he was in pursuing the
chase. He says that when they were ready, the Indian painted himself
with white clay, put on a striped shirt resembling the color of an
antelope. The Indian likewise made his limbs take on the same striped
appearance. On his head he put artificial horns, thus making himself
{521} a decoy to antelope. Pelone and the Indians with him were told
about the Book of Mormon and the promises of the Lord respecting their
forefathers.
Of these visits Elder Woodruff related a circumstance as follows:
"Pelone gave three young Mormon Elders the strongest rebuke I ever
heard from an Indian. The boys were smoking and asked Pelone to smoke
with them. He looked them sternly in the face and said: 'No, the Great
Spirit has told me that if I would not smoke, nor drink whiskey, I
should live a long time, but if I did, I should live but a short time.'
I then said to the boys, you should take that rebuke to heart, and
never again set such an example before an Indian."
Two days later Elder Woodruff had another talk with Pelone and one
Pedro. The latter was also an Apache chief, the two being the principal
chiefs of the tribe. The former had related to Pedro all that Brother
Woodruff had taught him and appeared much interested in the message.
From Snowflake Apostle Woodruff made his way to St. John, from which
place with Ammon Tenney he paid a visit to the Zunis and other Indian
tribes, an account of which is given in a communication of September
15th, 1879, to President John Taylor, as follows:
SUNSET, APACHE CO., ARIZONA, Sept. 15th, 1879.
_President John Taylor and Council:_
DEAR BRETHREN:--I arrived on Saturday night, the 13th inst., all well
and in good spirits and found Brother Lake, of Brigham City, and
Brother Bates, of Pleasant Valley, very sick. They had been to the
Verde, baptizing some and administering to the sick. Brother Lake has
been looked upon as dangerous, but was some better yesterday.
In my short communication of the 2nd inst., I promised to give a fuller
account of my visit to the Isletas, which I will now endeavor to do. I
view my visit among the Nephites one of the most interesting missions
of my life, although short. I say Nephites because if there are any
Nephites on this continent we have found them among the Zunis, Lagumas,
and Isletas, for they are a different race of people altogether from
the Lamanites. I class {522} the Navajoe, Moquis, and Apaches with
the Lamanites, although they are in advance of many Indian tribes of
America. I class the Zunis, Lagumas, and Isletas among the Nephites.
(See Sec. 3, verse 17, Doc. and Cov.) The Zunis are in advance of the
Navajoes, Apaches, or of any other Lamanites. The Lagumas are much
above the Zunis, and the Isletas are far above them all in wealth,
in beauty, cleanliness, and order of their homes and persons, the
adornment of their dwellings, their industry and indefatigable labors,
and in their virtue, and in the purity of their national blood. Their
bearing and dignity in their intercourse with strangers, and, above
all else, the expansion of their minds and their capacity to receive
any principle of the Gospel, such as endowments or sealing powers,
fully equal the minds of any of the Anglo Saxon race. While I have been
standing in the midst of that noble-minded people, teaching them the
gospel, I could not make myself believe I was standing in the presence
of American Indians or Lamanites, neither was I. The Isletas of which
I speak is a village twelve miles below Albuquerque, on the Rio Del
Norte, containing 3,000 souls that stand at the head of this class of
men that I call the Nephites. They occupy forty villages, containing
a population of 32,000, speaking sixteen distinct languages, but
nearly all good Spanish scholars. I look upon this as a great field of
missionary labor for some forty good, faithful "Mormon" elders, who
should be able to speak the Spanish; and I hope next conference will
call some of them, at least, into the field. I visited this people,
located in their homes in company with Brother Ammon M. Tenney, who
had visited most of them before, and I think has done much good in
opening doors among them. He had baptized 115 of the Zunis on a former
mission. My journey and visit with him was a visit of observation,
and I was amply rewarded. In what way, I do not know, but in almost
every village I visited, they were looking for me. I can only make a
brief outline from my journal of our journey. On the 19th of August,
we entered the Zuni village, containing about 3,000 souls. The village
stood on a piece of elevated ground; many buildings were three stories
high, and the upper stories were entered by ladders at the top. There
had been a heavy struggle in this village between the Catholics and
Mormon Zunis. The priests had done all they could to lie about the
Mormons and had drawn away {523} a few who had been baptized, but
others remained firm. I went through the old Catholic cathedral in the
village; it looked as though it were 500 years old. It had two bells
hanging in the tower and over the pulpit was some of the finest carved
work in wood I ever saw, representing Christ, the apostles, and angels.
I went all through the village and, for the first time in my life, I
had a view of the white Indians called _Albinos._ Their hair, face, and
limbs were nearly as white as milk, much whiter than any Americans.
I met with many who had been baptized and they were very glad to see
me. They had 2,000 acres of corn, looking well without irrigation.
On the day following, we visited their village at their farm called
Fish Springs. I was here introduced to Brother Juan Bautista (John
Baptist), the first man baptized in the Zuni nation by A. M. Tenney.
His son's wife was the most handsome woman I ever saw of the Indian
race; had a beautiful child, nearly white. I went through their wheat
fields, which they were cutting with sickles. We visited several ruins
of the ancient inhabitants; some of the outside walls of stone were
standing some eight feet high. On Sunday evening, the 25th, we held
a meeting in a village of the Lagumas, called _Mosita Negra._ We had
an interesting talk with the Governor of the place (Jose Carido),
and the spiritual advisor (Lorenzo Coreo) and both wanted a meeting.
They called the people together, men, women, and children. We opened
by singing and prayer, and Brother Tenney spoke to them in Spanish
thirty minutes. I spoke a short time. Brother Tenney interpreted and
we dismissed, thinking we had kept them long enough. As soon as we
dismissed, a Nephite arose, full of the spirit of the Lord, and said:
'Friends, why do you dismiss us and leave us in this way. This is the
first time we have heard of our forefathers and the gospel, and the
things we have looked for from the traditions of our fathers. If our
wives and children are weary, let them go home; we want to hear more.
We want you to talk all night, do not leave us so.' This speech raised
me to my feet and the next hour was one of the best meetings we had. We
all felt inspired, missionaries, Nephite men, women, and children. I
spoke and Brother Tenney interpreted. I never felt the want of tongues
more than on this occasion. I taught the things of the Kingdom of God
and found hearts capable of receiving it. All were deeply interested
and the seeds we {524} had sown in the hearts of that people will bring
forth fruit. At the close of the meeting, the man who spoke in the
meeting came to me and said, 'When you return, drive to my home and all
your wants will be supplied,' which we did and held another meeting
on the Sunday following. We should have baptized him, the Governor,
and many others, I think, but the Governor who had followed us, as did
the spiritual advisor, some sixty miles to Isletas, had not returned.
The people did not wish to take any steps until their Governor was
with them. On the following morning, my carriage was surrounded by the
Governor and people that we had talked to the night before. Some of
them took breakfast with us and I had to talk to them on the principles
of the gospel and their record and signs of the times, until I left;
and the leading men of the village followed us sixty miles to Isletas
and stopped with us most of the time we were there. On the morning
of the 26th of August, we drove through Frisco, crossed the Rio Del
Norte, which we found very low, and entered Albuquerque, containing
about 3,000 inhabitants, Jews, Gentiles, Americans, and Mexicans. I was
introduced to Judge Parks, the U. S. District Judge of that District,
from Illinois. I went through the city or town. It is quite a place
of business. I went through the Catholic cathedral accompanied by an
Italian padre, or priest. He took great pains to show us everything in
it, robes of the priests and deacons; some robes woven from pure gold
thread that cost $1,000.00. There was much more wealth than I would
have looked for in as obscure a place as Albuquerque. We spent the day
in the place and left in the evening and camped five miles below on the
banks of the river. On the 27th of August, we entered the village of
Isletas (Ysleta), being the day before the great annual feast of this
people. Brother Ammon M. Tenney had visited this people three years
ago and had made friends in the place. We called upon an old patriarch
that had received him before. His name was Juan Reylocero (John King).
He was glad to receive us. He furnished us with mutton, fruit, and
anything we needed. He was one of the leading spirits, was one of the
most influential men in the village, and was over eighty years of age;
but by his labor and activity he did not appear more than seventy.
It should be understood that the Catholic power has had dominion for
centuries over most of the American tribes. This is the case with all
{525} these tribes, as well as others, and the priests who now occupy
their villages are mostly French or Italian. The priests who dwell in
Isletas have had a hard contest with the old patriarch, because he had
received the Mormons and their religion. He told the priest that he had
his own rights and agency and no men should take his rights or religion
from him; and they had not spoken to each other for two years. This
spirit is manifest through all the tribes when the gospel is preached,
and the Lamanites and Nephites throughout all the land are beginning to
be weary of the Catholic priests and their religion. The inhabitants
of Isletas stand at the head of these 32,000 Nephites; all the other
40 villages come to them for counsel. They have their own laws, police
courts, and judgment seat. They are very rich. The man we stopped
with possessed 9,000 sheep, 100 brood mares and horses, 100 mules and
asses, 500 cows and oxen, a ranch worth $8,000.00, and $25,000 of other
wealth. He rents many houses in the city, and he is a sample of many of
the Isletas nation. They allow no white man or Mexican to mix with them
in their blood; all their marriages are in their own tribe. Our friend
(Reylocero) said the Americans had called them wild men. If they were
wild, they were honest and virtuous. It was very seldom that a case of
seduction of a wife or daughter was known in their tribes. Whenever
such a case did occur, the penalty of death was executed and had been
for centuries, until civilization was introduced by Americans, who had
introduced seduction and corruption wherever they had a chance, and
now, if a man were put to death for seduction, the civilization of the
day would kill his slayer. In fact they were so much afraid of white
men coming in contact with their women, that Brothers Tenney and Robert
H. Smith, of the 15th Ward, Salt Lake City, three years ago, came
nearly starving to death before they got thoroughly acquainted with
them. They were not willing for these brethren to go into the presence
of their women; but after the old patriarch had reached full confidence
in Brother Tenney, he put his grand-daughter (a very handsome young
woman) in his charge, as he was going away for a season, and a young
Mexican wished to court her, and the old gentleman did not wish him
to marry her. And as the people in that village had full confidence
in him, on our arrival we were kindly received and entertained by all
we {526} called upon. I look upon the Isletas as the most industrious
and hard laboring people of any I ever met (the Latter-day Saints not
excepted). This Nephite village has a field of corn ten miles in length
and one in width. It lies north and south of their village, and is
irrigated. The corn is quite as good as any I ever saw in Utah, and
perfectly clean; not a weed could be found in a hundred acres. They
have also twenty-one vineyards bordering on their city and 1,000 vines
to each vineyard, some of them 60 years of age, all kept perfectly
clean and loaded with the finest of fruit, and as heavy a crop as
I ever saw in St. George. The vines stand from two to four feet in
height and, in the fall of the year, each vine has a mound of earth
formed around it, until it is covered out of sight. In the spring it
is uncovered and the earth leveled. This is an immense work. They have
also many apple, pear, and peach orchards, all ripe as well as the
grapes. Isletas is occupied only by the Nephites themselves. There
are no Mexicans or white men. The houses generally are made of adobe,
cement, or concrete, and plastered. The outside walls are as white as
snow, and the floors are made of mortar or plaster, very smooth and
many of them very neatly carpeted. We saw some as handsome women and
girls as could be found in America, barring their dark complexions.
There is one practice that exceeds that of any civilized city on the
globe that I ever heard of. No man, woman, or child is allowed to sweep
a particle of dirt or dust from their floors into the door yards or
streets, under penalty of a fine. It all has to be gathered in cloths
or baskets and carried to mounds which are located in different parts
of the city. The room we occupied was in the center of the town and
the mound formed from the sweepings of the floors in that part of the
town measured 150 yards at the base and some thirty feet high, which
had probably been 100 years in collecting, for they did not appear to
cart it away. I found in Isletas and in other villages of the Nephites
the same kind of crockery and stone ware painted in all its brilliant
colors that we find in the remains of their ancient cities, or in
ruins of the ancient inhabitants. All of their water jugs and main
crockery are of this material, for they still hold the art of making
and painting it. We visited quite a number of the families in the
village and were kindly entertained. Among {527} others, we visited
Mrs. Pascual Avieta, a Nephite lady, I should judge 50 years of age,
a large portly woman, with a large, fine home. Her floors were neatly
carpeted, and settees were covered with Navajoe blankets, worth $15
each. She was neatly dressed. I was introduced to her by Brother Tenney
and to her daughters and sons. She received me and treated me with
all the cordiality that any refined lady could, and presided over her
household with all the dignity and grace of a Martha Washington. When
her daughters were introduced to me, after bowing and shaking hands,
they very reservedly and modestly retired across the room, sat down
upon a settee and listened to what was said in silence. The matron
sat down beside me and conversed with great freedom. While the family
could speak good Spanish, her son, a fine young man of 20, could speak
good English, which was a God send to me, and I thoroughly improved it
by preaching the Gospel of Christ and blessings of the Kingdom of God
to him, which he gladly received and promised to deliver the same to
his father and mother. The matron invited us into her pear, peach, and
apple orchard, and grape vineyard where fruit was ripe. We feasted to
our satisfaction, and repeated by invitation the same ceremony each
day while in Isletas. The feast was on the 27th of August. There were
hundreds of Mexicans from all the surrounding country gathered. The
Mexican women and girls had their long trails. Most all the drinking,
gambling, and fighting, which lasted all night, were done by the
Mexicans, while the Isletas were in their homes with doors locked at
an early hour. The Governor and leading men of Mosita Negra, where we
preached, were with us and did not take part in the Mexican carousal.
Thus, dear brethren, I have given you an outline, merely, of the field
of labor which I consider the God of Israel has opened unto us, and
which I consider the revelations of God require us to perform. I think
there is element sufficient for forty good, faithful elders. There is
need for a goodly number of elders who can speak the Spanish language,
or who will be able to learn it. I have already sent Brother Taylor a
small list of names, including the Indian missionaries that are already
in this country, as far as I can remember them, and if there are any
in St. George {528} or southern Utah, or northern, who can speak the
Spanish, or who will learn it, I would like Brother Taylor to consider
them at the October Conference.
I am happy to be able to state that most of the settlements I have
visited of the Saints have been blessed with fair crops of grain,
notwithstanding the dry season. They were just finishing threshing as
I left Snowflake. They will have over 3,000 bushels of grain, mostly
wheat, and I am confident they will have over 4,000 bushels of wheat at
Sunset.
I have not written anything for publication concerning my journey to
Lamanites or Nephites of late, thinking it would not be wisdom to
publish anything about our labors among the American Indians under the
present state of excitement on Mormonism. I forwarded a list of names
in my other communication, as missionaries. I forward a few more in
this communication and those I send from here are mostly persons who
have given in their names and are willing to engage in the mission.
Some incidents occurred on our mission which were interesting to me
and showed that the Lord was at work with and for us, to open the way
for the introduction of the gospel among this branch of the house of
Israel. But I have already lengthened this communication much more
than I intended at the commencement. I learned of the release of the
Apostles from prison from the _"News,"_ which has given joy to all the
faithful Saints of the land. The devil is making a hard struggle to
stop the building of temples, and the work of God, and the wicked are
helping him, but, brethren, God reigns and will stand by you to the
end. The lawyers, judges, and the nation are hastening to their doom as
fast as time will permit, and they are sure of their fate. That God may
bless you and give you the victory, is the earnest prayer of
Your brother in the gospel,
WILFORD WOODRUFF.
Brother Woodruff here in his journal, referring to his epistle in
support of Plural Marriage, said: "I am composed and tranquil. I am in
the hands of God, so is the United States Government. I rejoice in that
epistle and in the testimony which I have borne to all the world. God
will back up my testimony and the testimony of the righteous though the
heaven and earth shall pass {529} away." During those days in Arizona,
away from the turmoil and busy scenes of his former active life he had
opportunity to give himself up to the inner workings of the human soul.
It was not only an opportunity to rest, but it was an abandonment to
the workings of the spirit of God in the wilderness of Arizona, from
which he gave out some of the most inspiring utterances of his life.
Nor was his life there without some inconveniences and indeed some
hardships. In November of that year he traveled with Lot Smith through
the mountains where the snow lay a foot deep. The weather was very cold
and the wind was piercing. They cut down pine limbs to make a shield
against the cold blast, and made their bed upon the earth. The weather
was so cold that night that Elder Smith, fearing his horses might
freeze, arose and brought them to a big fire which they kept ablaze
most of the night. It was on that journey that he records a visit
of President Young and Elder Orson Hyde to him in a dream. He asked
President Young if he would not address the Saints, and he answered,
No, saying that he had done his talking in the flesh and that work was
now left for Elder Woodruff and others to do. From the dream he quotes
President Young as saying: "Tell the people to get the spirit of the
Lord and keep it with them."
It was also at that time that he employed his leisure moments in
reading McCabe's History of the World. He also helped the brethren
in the fields, dressed buckskin, and did everything that came in his
reach. The last days of 1879 were passed with John W. Young, and other
brethren. They visited the different wards, held conferences, and gave
encouragement to the people. In a section of country where material
advantages were not the best, what the people lacked in worldly
advantages they really enjoyed in spiritual blessings.
{530}