In my rides about the island there were many narrow paths in every
direction and the young growth of trees made it almost impossible to
pass through. We would come upon many little log cabins in the dense
woods with no clearing except a small yard and I wondered why this was
so. I was told these were some of the places where they used to secrete
stolen goods, it being such an out-of-the-way place and in the dense
woods no one would expect to find a house. One of the band of "Forty
Thieves" who lived with us a few months after I was married and keeping
house, told us there were many such places about that locality of Rocky
Mountain, or Indian Point as it has always been called late years, where
goods could be hid and they could hide themselves so as not to be found
by any stranger. The very mention of the band of "Forty Thieves" struck
terror to people's hearts in the days of Mormon rule. There were rumors
of many dark deeds done by that band of highwaymen, or pirates as they
were sometimes called. It was common talk among Gentiles, and told us by
some of their own people who were not very loyal to the king, that
vessels were plundered and the crews never heard from. Of course this
none of us knew to be true, yet a great many things happened to lead us
to think that it might be a possibility. When my people came back to the
island there was still a great quantity of goods left stored away in
some houses up in that part called "Enoch," about one mile distant from
the harbor. There were several boxes of shoes, some crates of dishes
partly full, screen cupboards, furniture, chairs and tables. One small
house was almost full of stoves. All these goods were new and did not
seem to have been damaged. The people who came had helped themselves to
all they wanted and wondered where all the goods came from. This helped
to make the rumors prove more true that vessels had been plundered and
the crews killed. One of our lake captains told me he had a brother who
was last seen at Beaver harbor. The vessel and crew were never heard
from and no one knew their fate. Of course when Strang's people were
getting so bold, doing what they did, taking everything from the
fishermen, it could easily be believed they would plunder vessels if a
good opportunity came.