There was one family living at the harbor settlement who kept a boarding
house. This man had four wives. Gentiles as well as Mormons boarded with
him, and many were the jokes the man had about his wives, saying he had
no need of hired girls, as he had wives enough to do his work. My father
was often there to take his meals, and once I remember mother was with
him and took me. One of the wives was a French woman. Mother talked with
her in her own language and she said she was tired of that life. She not
being a favorite wife had too much work to do. She had four small
children. When the other women saw her talking to mother in French they
seemed not to like it, thinking perhaps she was talking about them. As
soon as they came into the room the French woman began to sing as though
she was very happy. At another time, when she was sick and my mother was
taking care of her, she said, "Only for the love I have for my children
I would take poison." Many women that we met were very cheerful and
pleasant, while there were many more with very sad faces and manner.
When our people first lived neighbors to the Mormons they were very
friendly and talked about their work. As soon as they began to take
things from us they became silent and did not appear to care to meet us
any more. There were a few who never changed toward us and proved
friends to the last, although they had to appear sometimes to be our
enemies.