ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN.
Joseph was forever active. His appearance in the midst of the saints
was always the signal for increased activity in all phases of the
work. A day or two after his arrival at Far West, while walking over
the prairie, in company with several of the brethren, in one of those
sudden out-bursts of inspiration so frequent and natural with and to
him, he gave the following as the
POLITICAL MOTTO OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
The Constitution of our country formed by the Fathers of Liberty:
peace and good order in society; love to God, and good will to man.
All good and wholesome laws; virtue and truth above all things, and
Aristarchy [A] live for ever; but woe to tyrants, mobs, aristocracy,
anarchy and toryism, and all those who invent or seek out unrighteous
and vexatious law suits, under the pretext and color of law or office,
either religious or political. Exalt the standard of Democracy! Down
with that of priestcraft, and let all the people say, Amen! That the
blood of the fathers may not cry from the ground against us. Sacred is
the memory of that blood which bought for us our Liberty.
[Footnote A: Aristarchy--a body of good men at the head of government.]
That is a motto that will challenge the admiration of all patriots, and
is worthy of living in the archives of the great Republic.
Conferences, the convening of High Councils, preparing elders to go on
missions, making arrangements for settling the ever-increasing numbers
of the saints on the new lands of Far West, were the common labors of
the day.
In May, 1838, Joseph and other leading brethren started on an exploring
expedition to the north, for the purpose of finding new districts where
more stakes of Zion might be laid off, and the gathering saints find
homes. They traveled north until they reached Grand River, a stream
sufficient for steamboat navigation in the rainy seasons, but so
fluctuating that it is not practically a navigable stream. Time has cut
the channel very deep, and left the wood-lined banks in places quite
precipitous.
After reaching Grand River, Joseph and his party followed up the
beautiful stream which lead them a north-westerly course. Having
traveled some thirty miles from Far West, they camped on the north side
of Grand River, at Tower Hill, a name which the Prophet Joseph gave
it, because of finding an old ruined Nephite tower or altar on the
hill. Half a mile north of Tower Hill, Joseph and party selected and
laid claim to a site for a city in township sixty, ranges twenty-seven
and eight, sections twenty-five, thirty-six, thirty-one, and thirty.
Some of the saints had been located at the place for several months
and called it Spring Hill; but by the mouth of the Lord it was named
ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN;[B] because, said he, it is the place where Adam shall
come to visit his people, or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken
of by Daniel [C] the prophet.
[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 116.]
[Footnote C: Daniel 8:9-14.]
Adam-ondi-Ahman, then, or Diahman, as it was familiarly known to the
Missouri saints, is located on the north bank of Grand River. It is
situated, in fact, in a great bend of the Grand. The river comes
sweeping down from the north-west, and here makes a bold curve and
runs in a meandering course to the north-east for some two or three
miles, when it as suddenly makes another curve and flows again to the
south-east. We have already spoken of Grand River as a stream that
has worn a deep channel for itself, and left its banks precipitous;
but here at Diahman that is only true of the south bank. The stream,
as it rushed from the north-west, struck this height of prairie land
containing beds of lime-stone, and not being able to cut its way
through, it veered off to the north-east, and left that height of land
standing like a palisade that rises very abruptly from the stream to
a height of from fifty to seventy-five feet; but the summit of these
bluffs is the common level of the high, rolling prairie, extending
off in the direction of Far West. The bluffs on the north bank recede
some distance from the stream, so that the river bottom at this point
widens out to a small valley. The bluffs on the north bank of the river
are by no means as steep as those on the south, and are covered with
a heavier growth of timber. A ridge or spur runs out from the main
line of the bluffs into the river bottom some two or three hundred
yards, approaching the stream at the point where the curve is made. The
termination of the bluff is quite abrupt, and overlooks a considerable
portion of the river bottom. On the brow of the bluff stood the
old stone altar which the brethren found there. When it was first
discovered, according to those who visited it frequently, it was about
sixteen feet long, by nine or ten feet wide, having its greatest extent
north and south. The height of the altar as the brethren found it, was
some two and a half feet at each end but gradually rising higher to the
center, which was between four and five feet high--the whole surface
being crowing.
Such was the altar at Diahman when the brethren found it. Now, however,
it is thrown down and nothing but a mound of crumbling stones mixed
with soil, and a few boulders, mark the spot which is doubtless rich in
historic events. It was here that the patriarchs, associated with Adam
and in his company, assembled at this altar to worship their God. Here
their evening prayers ascended to heaven in the smoke of the burning
sacrifice, and here angels instructed them in heavenly truths--but more
of this anon.
North of the ridge on which the ruins of the altar are found, and
running parallel with it, is another ridge, separated from the first
by a depression or miniature valley, varying in width from fifty to a
hundred yards. This small valley, with the larger one through which
flows Grand River, is the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman. Three years
previous to the death of Adam, he gathered the patriarchs Seth, Enos,
Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch and Methuselah, together with all
their righteous posterity, into this valley we have described; and
there gave them his last blessing. And even as he blessed them, the
heavens were opened, and the Lord appeared, and in the presence of
their God, the children of Adam arose and blessed him, and called him
Michael, the Prince, the Archangel. The Lord also blessed Adam, saying:
"I have set thee to be the head--a multitude of nations shall come
of thee, and thou art a Prince over them for ever." So great was the
influence of this double blessing upon Adam, that though he was bowed
down with age, under the out-pouring of the Holy Ghost he predicted
what should befall his posterity, to their latest generations. Thus we
find the valley of Diahman a hallowed spot, made so because of these
sacred associations.
But all the interest concerning Diahman is not associated with the
past, it is connected with the future as well. For it is in this same
valley that the "Ancient of Days," Adam, will come and meet with his
posterity, when thousand thousands shall minister to him, and ten
thousand times ten thousand shall stand before him; here is where the
books will be opened and the judgment shall sit. Here, too, the Son of
Man will appear to this vast multitude, in the clouds of heaven, and
coming to the Ancient of Days, shall give to him dominion and glory,
and issue a decree that all people, nations and languages shall serve
and obey him; and his dominion shall be everlasting, and his kingdom
one that shall never be destroyed.[D]
[Footnote D: Daniel 7th chapter; see also Doc. & Cov. Sec. 107.]
Such were the scenes of the past enacted in the "Valley of Diahman:"
such are the splendid scenes to be enacted there in the future! No
wonder if Satan has contended with the saints for the possession of
this holy ground! Does not the fact of its being chosen as the place
where the Kingdom of God shall be established in power no more to be
destroyed, explain in part why there was such an effort on the part of
the powers of darkness to drive the saints away from it? And, again, do
not the very efforts made by Satan to drive away the saints, sustain
the words of the prophets that declare this to be holy ground?
On the evening of May 21st, 1838, a few days after the arrival of
Joseph's exploring party at Diahman, a council of the whole party was
called, and it was decided not to go farther north, but counsel the
people to settle at Diahman, and secure the land between there and Far
West. So rapidly did the saints gather to this place, that about one
month from the time it was selected, a stake of Zion was organized
there. John Smith, uncle of the Prophet, was chosen president; Reynolds
Cahoon and Lyman Wight were selected to be his counselors. A High
Council was also organized, and Vinson Knight was chosen acting Bishop
_pro tempore_.