THE WOMEN OF MORMONDOM IN THE PERIOD OF THE UTAH WAR--THEIR
HEROIC RESOLVE TO DESOLATE THE LAND--THE SECOND EXODUS--MRS.
CARRINGTON--GOVERNOR CUMMING'S WIFE--A NATION OF HEROES.
For an example of the heroism of woman excelling all other examples of
history--at least of modern times--let us turn to that of the Mormon
women during the Utah war.
In the expulsions from Missouri, first from county to county, and
then _en masse_ from the State, undoubtedly the Mormons yielded to
the compulsion of a lawless mob, coupled with the militia of the
State, executing the exterminating order of Governor Boggs. It was an
example of suffering and martyrdom rather than of spontaneous heroism.
Something of the same was illustrated in the expulsion from Illinois.
It was at the outset nothing of choice, but all of compulsion. True,
after the movement of the community, inspired by the apostolic
forcefulness of Brigham Young and his compeers, swelled into a grand
Israelitish exodus, then the example towered like a very pyramid of
heroism; and in that immortal circumstance who can doubt that the
heroic culminated in the women?
But what shall be said of their example during the Utah war? Here were
women who chose and resolved to give an example to the civilized world
such as it had never seen. The proposed exodus from Utah was not in
the spirit of submission, but an exhibition of an invincible spirit
finding a method of conquest through an exodus. This was not weakness,
but strength. It was as though the accumulated might and concentrated
purposes of their lives were brought into a supreme action. The example
of the Utah war was in fact all their own. The Mormons were not
subdued. Had the issue come, they would have left Utah as conquerors.
"Tell the government that the troops now on the march for Utah shall
not enter the Great Salt Lake Valley. Tell the people of the United
States that should those troops force an entrance they will find Utah
a desert, every house burned to the ground, every tree cut down, and
every field laid waste. We will apply the torch to our own dwellings,
cut down those richly-laden orchards with our own hands, turn the
fruitful field again into a desert, and desolate our cities, with
acclamations."
Such was the tenor of the communication carried by Captain Van Vliet to
the government. And he had seen the whole people lift up their hands in
their tabernacle to manifest their absolute resolution to the nation,
and heard those acclamations in anticipation of their act.
The very nature of the case brought the women of Mormondom into supreme
prominence. _Their_ hands would have applied the torches to their
homes; they would have been the desolaters of the fast-growing cities
of Utah. The grandeur of the action was in these unconquerable women,
who would have maintained their religion and their sacred institutions
in the face of all the world.
The example of the wife of Albert Carrington will, perchance, be
often recalled, generations hence. Capt. Van Vliet, of the United
States Army, had arrived in Salt Lake City in the midst of the
troubles out of which grew the "war." He was received most cordially
by the authorities, but at the same time was given to understand that
the people were a unit, and that they had fully determined upon a
programme. The sisters took him into their gardens, and showed him the
paradise that their woman-hands would destroy if the invading army
came. He was awed by the prospect--his ordinary judgment confounded
by such extraordinary examples. To the lady above-mentioned, in whose
garden he was one day walking, in conversation with the governor and
others, he exclaimed:
"What, madam! would you consent to see this beautiful home in ashes
and this fruitful orchard destroyed?"
"Yes!" answered Sister Carrington, with heroic resolution, "I would not
only consent to it, but I would set fire to my home with my own hands,
and cut down every tree, and root up every plant!"
Coupled with this will be repeated the dramatic incident of Governor
Cumming's wife weeping over the scene of the deserted city after the
community had partly executed their resolution.
The saints had all gone south, with their leader, when Governor
Cumming, with his wife, returned from Camp Scott. They proceeded to the
residence of Elder Staines, whom they found in waiting. His family had
gone south, and in his garden were significantly heaped several loads
of straw.
The governor's wife inquired their meaning, and the cause of the
silence that pervaded the city. Elder Staines informed her of their
resolve to burn the town in case the army attempted to occupy it.
"How terrible!" she exclaimed. "What a sight this is! I shall never
forget it! it has the appearance of a city that has been afflicted with
plague. Every house looks like a tomb of the dead! For two miles I have
seen but one man in it. Poor creatures! And so all have left their
hard-earned homes?"
Here she burst into tears.
"Oh! Alfred (to her husband), something must be done to bring them
back! Do not permit the army to stay in the city! Can't you do
something for them?"
"Yes, madam," said he, "I shall do all I can, rest assured."
Mrs. Cumming wept for woman! But the women of Mormondom gloried in
their sublime action as they had never done before. They felt at that
moment that their example was indeed worthy of a modern Israel.
It thus struck the admiration of journalists both in America and
Europe. The Mormons were pronounced "A nation of heroes!" Those heroes
were twice ten thousand women, who could justly claim the tribute
equally with their husbands, their brethren and their sons.