The first celebration.--Lorenzo chairman of committee.--Description
of Escort--Moves from Bowery to President Young's.--Receives
the Presidency.--Returns to Bowery.--Singing by the
way.--Cheers.--Hymn.--Prayer.--Declaration of Independence
read.--Speech by Silver Greys.--Ode sung by Silver Greys.--Shout of
hosanna.--March to the dinner tables.--A rich feast.--Thousands of the
Saints partake.--Gentiles _en route_ to California, partake.--Scores of
Indians partake.--Grandeur in Simplicity.--Gratitude to God.
The first celebration in the valleys of the mountains was held on the
twenty-fourth of July, 1849--the second anniversary of the entrance of
the pioneers. In this, Lorenzo had much to do. In fact, the originating
and compiling the programme for the exercises of the day, was the
product of his fertile brain. The occasion was one which called into
requisition his inventive abilities, and exhibited his taste and skill
as an organizer; also the wonderful power of co-operative effort in
carrying concerted plans into execution. Truly, it was not creating out
of nothing; but when we take into consideration the circumstances of
the people at that time--driven from their homes--robbed and plundered,
and so recently located in a sterile waste, one thousand miles from all
supplies, except what they extracted from a long-barren soil; it will
be at once realized that it required no small stretch of thought and
ingenuity to organize, and with appropriate honors, celebrate a day of
so much historical importance as the one in question. But they had "the
right man in the right place;" for in this instance, as in everything
he undertook, Lorenzo verified the adage, "What is worth doing, is
worth doing well." And, to make a success of whatever he undertook, he
neither spared labor nor application.
Although, since that early day of our mountain home, as circumstances
have changed--means been multiplied, and foreign resources brought
within the reach of this once isolated people, insomuch that in more
recent celebrations of that ever memorable day, the twenty-fourth of
July, mammoth displays have been crowned with wealth and magnificence,
this first, the opening one--this display of civilization in a desolate
wilderness has never been eclipsed.
As it may be interesting to many of the coming generation, we will
here give a brief description of the celebration, as follows: The
inhabitants were awakened by the firing of cannon, accompanied by
music. The brass band, playing martial airs, paraded the principal
streets of the city, in a gaily decorated omnibus, with prancing
steeds, and with banners flying, returning to the Bowery, from whence
they started.
The Bowery was one hundred feet long, by sixty wide; it was built
on one hundred and four posts, and covered with boards; but for the
services of this day, a canopy or awning was extended about one hundred
feet from each side of the Bowery, to accommodate the vast multitude at
dinner.
At half-past seven, the large national flag, measuring sixty-five feet
in length, was unfurled at the top of the liberty pole, which was one
hundred and four feet high, and was saluted by the firing of six guns,
the ringing of the "Nauvoo bell," and soul-stirring airs from the band.
At eight o'clock, the multitude was called together by music and the
firing of guns--the Bishops of the several wards arranging themselves
in the sides of the aisles, with the banners of their wards unfurled,
each bearing an appropriate inscription.
At a quarter past eight a grand and imposing escort was formed, under
the direction of Lorenzo Snow, Jedediah M. Grant and Franklin D.
Richards, in the following order, to wit: (1) Horace S. Eldredge,
marshal, on horseback, in military uniform; (2) brass band; (3) twelve
Bishops, bearing the banners of their wards; (4) twenty-four young
men dressed in white pants, black coats, white scarfs on the right
shoulder, and coronets on their heads, each carrying in his right hand
a copy of the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the
United States, and each wearing a sheathed sword by his side--one of
them carrying a beautiful banner, on which was inscribed, "The Lion of
the Lord;" (5) twenty-four young ladies dressed in white, with blue
scarfs on the right shoulder, and wreaths of white roses on their
heads, each carrying a Bible and a Book of Mormon, and one carrying a
neat banner, inscribed with "Hail to our Captain;" (6) P. P. Pratt,
John Taylor, Charles C. Rich, Daniel Spencer, David Fullmer, Willard
Snow, Erastus Snow; (7) twenty-four Silver Greys, led by Isaac Morley,
Patriarch--each carrying a staff, painted red on the upper part, with
a bunch of white ribbon floating at the top--one of them carrying the
"Stars and Stripes," bearing the inscription, "LIBERTY OR DEATH."
The escort marched from the Bowery to the residence of Governor Brigham
Young, and, at nine o'clock, when Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball
had taken their position in the procession, in front of the Twelve
Apostles, it moved forward, led by the committee, while the cannon
roared, the musketry rolled, the "Nauvoo bell" pealed forth its silvery
notes, and the air was filled with the soul-stirring strains of the
brass band; and, as a soft, sweet and soothing refrain, intermingling
harmoniously as they marched, the twenty-four young ladies and
twenty-four young gentlemen sang the following, composed by Apostle P.
P. Pratt:
THE MOUNTAIN STANDARD.
Lo! the Gentile chain is broken--
Freedom's banner waves on high.
List, ye nations: by this token,
Know that your redemption's nigh.
See, on yonder distant mountain,
Zion's standard wide unfurled;
Far above Missouri's fountain,
Lo! it waves for all the world.
Freedom, peace and full salvation
Are the blessings guaranteed;
Liberty to every nation,
Every tongue and every creed.
Come, ye Christian sects and pagan,
Pope and Protestant and priest--
Worshipers of God and Dagan,
Come, O come, to Freedom's feast.
Come, ye sons of doubt and wonder,
Indian, Moslem, Greek or Jew;
All your shackles burst asunder--
Freedom's banner waves for you.
Cease to butcher one another--
Join the covenant of peace;
Be to all, a friend--a brother,
This will bring the world's release.
Lo! our King, the great Messiah,
Prince of Peace, shall come to reign;
Sound again, ye heavenly choir,
Peace on earth, good will to men.
On arriving at the Bowery, the escort was received with shouts of
"HOSANNA TO GOD AND THE LAMB!" While the Governor and suite, Patriarch
and Presiding Bishops were passing down the aisle, the people cheered
and shouted, "HAIL TO THE GOVERNOR OF DESERET." These being seated
on the stand by the committee, the escort marched around the Bowery,
singing an appropriate hymn--then down the aisle, and were seated in
double rows on each side.
The assembly was called to order, and prayer offered by Apostle Erastus
Snow.
Richard Ballantyne, chairman of the twenty-four young men, came to the
stand, and, in a neat speech, presented the Declaration of Independence
and the Constitution of the United States to Governor Young, which was
received with three shouts, "MAY THEY LIVE FOREVER!" led by Governor
Young.
The Declaration of Independence was then read, the brass band following
with lively airs, after which the following Song of Liberty, by E. R.
S. Smith, was sung by the twenty-four young ladies:
SONG OF LIBERTY.
Long, long ago, when Earth and Time
Were in the morn of life,
All joyous in their lovely prime,
With fragrant beauty rife.
All nature then in order crowned
With perfect harmony;
Luxuriant products clothed the ground,
O, there was liberty.
No vail obscured the worlds on high
From those that dwelt on earth;
But in the pathway of the sky,
They journeyed back and forth.
Then God and angels talked with men,
And woman, too, was free,
For both were pure and sinless then,
In perfect liberty.
The curse pursued transgression's track,
And man from God was driven,
Until the Priesthood brought him back,
To do the will of heaven.
We'll shout hosanna to the Lord,
For what is yet to be,
When earth and man will be restored
To God and liberty.
We see the lighthouse brightly blaze
Far o'er the boisterous wave;
With cheering prospects thus we gaze
On hopes beyond the grave;
For woman, if submissive here
To God's divine decree,
Restored, will fill a noble sphere
In glorious liberty.
The Lord has set His gracious hand,
And by His mighty power,
He led His people to this land--
Preparing for the hour;
For Earth and Time are growing old,
And soon Eternity
Will to the Saints of God unfold
CELESTIAL LIBERTY.
The singing by the young ladies performed, Elder Phineas Richards came
forward in behalf of the twenty-four aged sires, and read their loyal
and patriotic address, as follows:
_To our honorable President and this respectable Audience_:
Respected Fellow Citizens:--Permit us, the aged Fathers in Israel, to
mingle our voices with yours on this interesting occasion--an occasion
which is calculated to call into exercise the most acute feelings of
the human heart.
The circumstance which we this day commemorate, will form a very
important item in the history of succeeding ages. Two years ago this
day, when President Brigham Young first entered this valley, he
completed the most extraordinary expedition ever recorded in the annals
of history.
There are sometimes small and seemingly trivial events in the life of
man, with which every other period most naturally associates. There are
circumstances in the history of nations, which seem as fulcrums, around
which everything else revolves. But the period, the circumstance, the
event which we now commemorate, is one with which is associated the
interests of the world--the salvation of the whole human family.
What must be the feelings, this day, of President Young, the leader of
that noble band of Pioneers, while he contemplates the results of the
last two years? Realizing the responsibility of his position as the
head of a numerous people, persecuted and driven from their cherished
homes, where their first leader and Prophet had sealed his mission with
his blood; we say, what must have been his feelings when, with a little
band, with barely necessaries sufficient to sustain life for a few
months, and leaving their families nearly destitute, on lands claimed
by faithless savages, he started forth into the wilderness in search
of a home for his people, like Abraham of old, "not knowing whither he
went?" But he knew that God had called him--he trusted in the arm of
Omnipotence, and by the unseen hand of the Almighty Jehovah, their feet
were directed across a trackless desert to this place. And who, fellow
citizens, with the recollections of the past and the anticipations
of the future, would attempt to describe the feelings that on this
occasion fill the breasts of your aged fathers?
Soon, like the Patriarchs of old, we expect to be gathered to our
fathers. Our bosoms swell with gratitude to the Most High, that after
years of tossing to and fro, our feet are once more established upon a
land of peace; although exiled by the bloody hand of persecution from
the much loved lands of our nativity--our once beautiful homes and
quiet firesides, where we inherited the sweets of domestic life from
those who fought the battles of the American Revolution, to establish
the principles of equity, and a government of peace. From them, too, as
a natural inheritance, have we imbibed, and with ardor cherished, the
holy fire of patriotism; which, having been constitutionally implanted
in our natures, can never become extinct. As easily might the earth be
removed from its orbit--as well might yonder sun be made to emanate
darkness instead of light, as the glorious principles of liberty be
eradicated from our bosoms.
Little did our fathers think, while rehearing to their children the
sufferings of the pilgrims who fled from the religious oppression of
the Old World, and while recounting the scenes of hardship, privation
and death, while passing through the struggle that "tried men's souls,"
to plant the tree of liberty, to establish freedom and equal rights,
and to bequeath the laws of protection and republicanism to their
posterity--we say, little did they think that we, their sons, would
have to cower beneath the hand of oppression--be chased like the roe
upon the mountains, and forced to flee before the reeking sword of
an unhallowed mobocracy, and hunt a refuge, a hiding place, beyond
the track of civilization! Little did they think that so soon the
proud-crested Eagle would seek an asylum behind the western hills, and
that the blood of the noblest martyrs that ever graced this lower world
would remoisten the soil which had so lately been purchased by the
blood of heroes!
But, brethren and friends, we who have lived to threescore years, have
beheld the government of the United States in its glory, and know that
the outrageous cruelties we have suffered proceeded from a corrupted
and degenerate administration, while the pure principles of our boasted
Constitution remain unchanged. President Joseph Smith experienced and
well comprehended this corruption; and, inspired by the Spirit of
the Almighty, foretold the sequel, and, with the pencil of heaven,
portrayed the impending desolation and ruin; and, prompted by an
unction from the upper world, essayed to put forth his hand to preserve
the tottering fabric from destruction. "But they have done unto him
as they listed"--they have driven the Saints from their midst--they
have demolished the bulwarks of liberty and protection, and now the
vengeance of insulted heaven awaits them!
In our humble opinion, having been taught by bitter experience, that
under a defective administration of political government, religious
toleration can exist only in name, it devolves upon us, as a people
instructed by the revelations of God, with hearts glowing with love
for our fallen country, to revive, support, and carry into effect
the original, uncorrupted principles of the Revolution, and the
constitutional government of our patriotic forefathers.
To you, President Young, as the successor of President Smith, do we
now look, as to a second Washington, so far as political freedom is
concerned, to replant the standard of American liberty, to unfurl the
banner of protection, to re-establish equal rights, to nourish the
broad-plumed eagle that has fled to the recesses of the mountains
crowned with eternal snows, to unsheath the sword of justice, to do
honor to the memories of the heroes of the Revolution, and to _his_
memory whose blood now cries from the ground in behalf of a loyal,
innocent, persecuted and exiled people.
From a long personal acquaintance, and a knowledge of the inflexible,
godlike integrity which has characterized your adherence to, and your
support of, our murdered Prophet; with the utmost confidence we pledge
ourselves to uphold, and, as much as lies in our power, to assist you
in resuscitating and re-establishing those glorious principles, while
we live; and when we die, _we bequeath this pledge_ as a sacred legacy
to our children. As we have inherited the spirit of liberty and the
fire of patriotism from our fathers, so let them descend unadulterated
to our posterity.
Should not we, who have suffered atrocious cruelties, rise up and
redeem our once sacred Constitution from the foul disgrace with which
it has been stamped, and the eternal infamy to which it is destined,
unless a spirit of philanthropy and independence shall somewhere be
aroused for its rescue? Shall not we, fellow citizens, rise up in the
spirit of freemen and do honor to the shades of the departed heroes of
'76? Let us show ourselves to be worthy sons of our noble, patriotic
ancestors. Let us prove to the United States, that when they drove
the Saints from them, they not only drove from their midst soldiers
who were bravest in protecting their western frontier, but also the
firmest supporters of American Independence. Let us be true to our
trust. Profiting by scenes of suffering in the recent school of our
experience, let us watch with jealous eye the first encroachment of
civil power. Should the infernal monster despotism dare lift its hydra
head upon this western Territory, Mr. President, although burthened
by the weight of years, and worn down with hardship, privation and
fatigue, we, the gray-headed, with you for our leader, are ready at any
moment to step forth and unsheath the sword in defense of that which
our fathers have taught us to hold dearer than life.
Yes, we are ready; and, as we follow you, we call upon these young men,
our sons, to follow us; and sooner lay their lives upon the holy altar
of liberty than submit to be crushed by the inquisitorial Juggernaut of
oppression. Let the sacred motto "_Liberty or Death_" be inscribed on
every scabbard, helmet, buckler and shield.
Yes, here, with this Territorial government, let a standard of liberty
be erected that shall reach to heaven, and be a rallying point for
all the nations of the earth. Here let the insigniaed banner begin to
be unfurled that shall yet extend its benign protecting wand to every
kingdom upon the face of the earth; that while revolution treads on
the heel of revolution--while commotion, anarchy and devastation push
forward the reckless besom of destruction, and with continuous sweep
are annihilating the last hopes of comfort in human life; while in the
prophetic language of Scripture, "all faces shall gather blackness,"
_here_ let the ensign of peace, like a heavenly beacon, invite to a
haven of rest, an oasis of civil, political and religious liberty.
From here let peans of theo-democracy or republicanism reverberate
from valley to valley, from mountain to mountain, from Territory to
Territory, from State to State, from nation to nation, from empire to
empire, from continent to continent, till the thrilling echo shall be
responded from Behring's Straits and the straits of Magellan, from
Great Britain and the states of Europe, from Africa, from Hindostan and
even from China, the proud, self-styled "celestial empire" of the east.
At the conclusion of the address, the assembly arose and shouted three
times, "Hosanna! hosanna! hosanna to God and the Lamb, for ever and
ever, amen and amen!" while the banners were waved by the Bishops.
Then, after the band had played a lively air, the clerk read the Ode to
Liberty, written for the occasion by E. R. S. Smith.
The ode was then sung by the Silver Greys, to the tune "Bruce's
Address."
ODE TO LIBERTY.
Fairest spirit of the skies,
Fairest child of Paradise,
Once Columbia's lawful prize--
Glorious Liberty.
Thee our noble fathers sought--
For thyself our heroes fought,
Thus our bleeding patriots bought
Precious Liberty.
When thy banner waves abroad,
All may freely worship God,
Fearless of the tyrant's rod--
Sacred Liberty.
Never, never cease to wave
O'er the ashes of the brave;
Shield, O shield the patriot's grave--
Flag of Liberty.
Should oppression boldly dare
From thy brow the wreath to tear,
Righteous vengeance shall not spare
The foes of Liberty.
Sooner than to bondage yield,
Bravely in the battle field,
Let the sons of freemen wield
The sword for Liberty.
God, who moved our worthy sires,
When they kindled Freedom's fires,
Zion's noble sons inspires
To cherish Liberty.
Here, with godlike grasp and bold,
We the Constitution hold,
Pure as when it's sacred fold
Sheltered Liberty.
Freedom, Justice, Truth and Peace,
Shall throughout these vales increase;
Shout, O shout, till time shall cease,
Truth and Liberty!
Here, amid the mountain sky,
Freedom's banner waves on high;
Let the heaven-born echo fly--
GOD AND LIBERTY!
The hour of intermission having arrived, the escort was re-formed;
the Bishops collected the residents of their respective wards, and
marched with them to the dinner tables, where thousands of Saints dined
sumptuously on the products of the valley, judiciously and delicately
prepared, and rendered delicious in connection with what foreign
luxuries were obtained in exchange for staple articles, as flour,
butter, potatoes, etc., from travelers to California. Several hundreds
of those Gentile emigrants, who, _en route_ to California, had stopped
to recruit, partook of the social repast, as did also threescore of
Indians. In proportion to the numbers, no celebration ever passed
off with more _eclat_--no one has been conducted with more order,
and no feast partaken of with better zest, with more mutual love and
friendship, nor with hearts more filled to overflowing with gratitude
to God for the outpouring of His blessings and for the manifestations
of His overruling hand.