The First Hegira from Palmyra to Kirtland—The first Temple—Rapid growth of the Mormon Church—Brigham Young and other missionaries sent to foreign lands—The name “Latter-day Saints” adopted—Smith and Rigdon compelled to flee from Kirtland—The Second Hegira—The “Danites” organized—Rapid increase of the Mormons in Missouri—Jealousy of the Missourians—Mormons driven across the Missouri River by a mob—Their property confiscated—Their leaders imprisoned.
The First Hegira or exodus of the Mormons was from Palmyra to Kirtland, O., in 1831. This was a very tedious journey at that time, since they moved onward in wagons, carrying their household goods with them. On their arrival at Kirtland they were greeted by one thousand Mormons, who were the converts of Rigdon and other Mormon preachers.
Kirtland is three miles from Mentor, the home of the late President Garfield, and twenty-two miles east of Cleveland, and is situated in a remarkably fertile country. As soon as the Mormons arrived there they purchased a square mile of land, which they laid out in half-acre lots. In addition they bought a number of farms. They evidently expected to remain there a long time, since they erected a number of substantial houses, and a most beautiful temple, which Smith called the “School of the Prophets.”
All Northern Ohio looked on in astonishment when the Mormons built their temple. It was, indeed, a remarkable structure. It was begun in 1832 and finished in 1836, the entire cost being $40,000. There was but little resemblance between it and the small meeting-houses common to the rural portion of Ohio; and although now it is over fifty years old, yet it is in good preservation, considering the neglect with which it has been treated, and might easily be restored to its former beauty. It is now owned by Joseph Smith, Jr., the son of the prophet, who, however, has no affiliation whatever with the Utah Mormons.
From the time the Mormons arrived at Kirtland they increased with astonishing rapidity, notwithstanding the fact that they were generally hated. Rigdon preached to crowds of people who flocked there from every part of the lake region to hear his eloquence. He seems to have had a wonderful power over the people, and so great an influence that it is felt even to the present day in that vicinity.
But the work of the Mormons extended beyond Kirtland. In the year of the First Hegira it extended over several of the States, and in three years afterward Mormon societies were established in Canada, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and in nearly all of the Northern and Middle States and in some of the Southern States. A large number of converts were made chiefly through the earnestness and captivating eloquence of the Mormon preachers; for the more intelligent and better educated were sent out for that purpose. Besides, these missionaries had no compensation, and this was one secret of their successful preaching. They braved every danger and faced a frowning world rejoicing in tribulation. And then, too, the Mormons were a community who had all goods in common; and this fact threw a fascination over the new faith to thousands of uneducated people. They heard Scriptural expressions used by the leaders, but they had only a vague idea of what it was they professed; but still there was a novelty about the movement that captivated them, and they were willing to be led by insinuating men. Therefore the Mormon preachers won converts wherever they went. Rigdon said that Kirtland was only the eastern boundary of the promised land, and that from thence it would extend to the Pacific Ocean.
They were not content, however, to obtain followers only in our own country. In May, 1835, missionaries were sent to foreign lands to make proselytes; among the foreign missionaries was Brigham Young, who had joined the Mormons at Kirtland in 1832, and was ordained an elder.
Previous to this, at a conference of elders on May 3d, 1833, the name “Mormons” was repudiated and that of “Latter-day Saints” was adopted.
In 1835 Smith issued a command that the elders, who numbered between three and four hundred, “should seek learning, study the best books, and get a knowledge of kingdoms, countries, and languages.” A professor of Hebrew was hired to teach that language, and a seminary erected, which is now used by the Methodists of Kirtland for their church.
The Mormons only remained in Kirtland seven years. Trouble had long been threatening, but it culminated in 1838, when Smith and Rigdon were compelled to flee on account of their bank bursting, with loss and annoyance to many sufferers. They fled to Far West, Mo., where the main body of their followers had in the mean time settled. This may be called the Second Hegira.
It was on this particular westward march that the prophet organized a military command and a body-guard, and began to assume the prerogatives of his high military as well as spiritual mission. He had two hundred disciplined men-at-arms after he reached the State line of Missouri as his body-guard. They were called “Danites,” and their conduct is said to have precipitated the tragic scenes that were followed by the expulsion of the Mormons from that State.
There had been some Mormons in Missouri since 1831 when Oliver Cowdery, one of the original members of the Mormon Church, was sent there to look for a fitting locality for the New Jerusalem, and, as they said, to evangelize the Indians and Gentiles generally. His report of Jackson County, Mo., was so favorable that Smith and Rigdon directed their steps thither under the greatest difficulties in travelling, making a portion of the distance of over three hundred miles on foot. On their arrival at Independence they were so charmed with the country that they at once selected it as the place for the New Zion; and, to silence all cavil among his followers, Smith had a “revelation” to that effect.
The site of the temple was chosen with all the ceremony they could muster for the occasion. Here, Smith said, the Latter-day Saints would finally gather, Christ would appear in person, and the Mormons would reign a glorious and triumphant people for a thousand years.
Smith and Rigdon returned again to Kirtland and remained there until 1838; but meanwhile the Mormons increased rapidly in Missouri, settlements being made not only in Jackson County, but also in Clay, Ray, and Caldwell counties; and with their habitual industry and thrift they made homes of comfort and rapidly gained wealth.
But while their general cause advanced, they were correspondingly hated by their neighbors. Jealousy and politics seem to have been the chief causes of this animosity. They had acquired so much property that the Missourians thought they would have “the rule of the counties” through their numbers and property. Besides, the Mormons were wont to boast of their political ascendancy. They called their prophet the commander-in-chief of the armies of Israel. They said that State would soon be in their hands, and finally the whole country. And the facts seemed to justify this braggadocio, as the whole of Jackson County was theirs, and converts were flocking to their ranks in great numbers. Accordingly, a public meeting was held at Independence by the alarmed Gentiles, which resulted in the Mormons being driven across the Missouri River by an infuriated mob into Clay and Caldwell counties.
With this dispersion the other Mormon settlements suddenly developed into places of importance, particularly a town called Far West. It was here that Smith and Rigdon came when driven out of Ohio in 1838. With their coming a new impetus seems to have been given to the Mormons. With all the vexations caused them by their enemies, mills, workshops, farms, and industries of many kinds sprang up in the wilderness.
With all these tragic circumstances there grew into a terrible reality one of those wild and romantic histories which could only have taken shape on a Western frontier, and which was developed by these unusual incidents, and by the vanity and egotistical spirit evinced by the Mormons. They claimed to be a chosen people under special divine direction. They shrank not from urging such prerogatives and acting upon them. They were the Saints, and all other people were Gentiles. They were the Lord’s Saints, and the earth was the Lord’s. They were led by an inspired prophet. Consequently, whenever the day of election for civil officers came, they must vote solidly the Whig or the Democratic ticket, just as the leader should indicate. It is obvious to any one knowing the fierce zeal of partisan politics how this course on the part of the Mormons would subject them to constant embroilments with surrounding citizens. Mutual acts of plunder and retaliation between the Saints and Gentiles became frequent, and they were terrible in their consequences. We must recollect all the while that the Mormons were the persecuted party on account of their eccentricities; and in a spirit of retaliation they in many instances drove their opponents from their immediate vicinity, burning their houses and confiscating their property. Worse than all, they drove some women and children into the woods, and two children were born of homeless mothers. This was the crowning event that fired the Missourians into a war of extermination against the Mormons; and in consequence the State troops were called out by the Governor, as he said, “to enforce order upon all citizens, even if it was found necessary to exterminate the hateful and obnoxious Mormons,” who were presumed to be in the wrong.
A fearful drama followed under the leadership of Major-General Clark, who is described as being as rude as the most uncivilized of Mormons. He allowed the enemy to withdraw from the State, but he took all their lands and property to pay the cost of the war. The Mormon property thus confiscated was worth nearly two millions of dollars, and that confiscation was undoubtedly an act of lawlessness and injustice.
The Mormon leaders were arrested and put in jail, and at a court-martial it was decided to have them shot; but that act would have been so grossly unlawful that, on the protest of one of the generals, the court rescinded its orders.
With their leaders in jail, the Mormons submitted to the conditions of peace offered them, and prepared to withdraw from the State into Illinois, where Joseph Smith and his fellow-captives joined them after breaking from prison while their guard was in a drunken slumber.
CHAPTER III.
HISTORY OF MORMONISM (continued).
The Third Hegira—Sufferings of the Mormons during their journey into Illinois—An account of the murder of Mormons—Influence of this persecution on the minds of Mormons at the present time—Nauvoo—Its location—Its growth—The second Mormon Temple begun—Other public buildings—Laziness whittled out of Nauvoo—Internal dissensions among the Mormons—Political troubles—Smith nominated for President of the United States—Warrants issued against the Mormon leaders—Constable driven out of Nauvoo—Civil war threatened—Smith asked to submit to trial—Murder of Joseph Smith and his brother—Rigdon excommunicated and Brigham Young made leader—Consecration of the “Pride of the Valley.”
The Third Hegira or exodus of the Mormons was far more tragical than either of the previous ones. Twelve thousand Mormons arrived on the banks of the Mississippi River late in the autumn of 1838 in the most unhappy plight. Their houses had been burned, their fields laid waste, and they were nearly or quite destitute of every personal comfort. Every indignity which had been offered to the Missourians by the Mormons was returned with usury; and so terrible were their sufferings that the hearts of the Illinois citizens were so touched by their distress that they received with hospitality those who had travelled over the bleak prairies and storms of wind and rain and snow. The aged, the young, and the sick had been alike houseless and homeless in the most inclement season of the year. Many who left homes of abundance died from exposure to the pitiless elements.
A Mormon poet wrote concerning these times:
“Missouri,
Like a whirlwind in her fury,
Drove the Saints and spilled their blood.”
And if we can look at this part of their history calmly and impartially, can we fail to see that Missouri’s treatment of the Mormons was inhuman, unlawful, and impolitic?
A Mormon historian of these persecutions tells how twenty of the Mormons in the flight to Illinois, sleeping in a log cabin by the wayside, were shot dead through the crevices; and after the massacre was over, a boy who had been concealed was dragged out from his hiding-place under a forge and shot, while his murderers danced around him. This historian further writes, after relating a number of such instances Of Gentile cruelty: “We may forgive; BUT TO FORGET—NEVER.” And no wonder. Their treatment was barbaric, and to-day it is looked back to by the Mormons with just rage, and is used by them to awaken in the minds of their children the same spirit of hatred against a Government which has persecuted them from their very beginning.
When to-day it is said that the Mormons would not be molested if they would give up polygamy, they answer that those early persecutions took place before they adopted this doctrine. The fact is, that the mobs which attacked the first Mormons were made up in great part of the same low element that mobs the Salvation Army—a coarse rabble that, like a bull-dog, is ready to attack anything new. And as one nowadays hears a Mormon tell the story how the fathers of his people were driven out from their homes and forced to endure hardships untold and establish new homes elsewhere, if the hearer is not beguiled into sympathizing with the sufferers, he sees how the truly romantic story of those early days can fire the Mormon heart. He can then realize how many a young man who, for its own sake, would care nothing for his Mormon creed, will be ready to fight desperately for it in his indignation at the persecutions heaped upon his fathers. Thus, the remembrance of the persecutions through which their early leaders passed in Missouri operates as a strong power to support the zeal of the Mormons to-day.
After such trying and tragic events, their property lost and their health greatly shattered, one might suppose that the Mormons would have been ready to abandon their faith; but no, they were too strong in their belief for that. Their endurance was, indeed, marvellous. They clung to each other with great tenacity, and much pity was awakened in their behalf, because it was generally believed at the time that they had been treated with great injustice. Soon Smith was presented with a large tract of land in Hancock County, Ill., and immediately he had a “revelation” that this was the “centre spot,” and he commanded the Saints to assemble there to build a city and a temple. The angel told him to call the city Nauvoo, which he said meant “The Beautiful.”
It was located on the east bank of the Mississippi River, forty miles above Quincy, Ill., and twenty miles west of Burlington, Ia. It was situated at a bend of the river on rising ground, which commanded a magnificent view of the Mississippi for many miles. The land given to Joseph was divided into lots and sold to the Mormons, by which he realized over one million of dollars.
The Saints from all quarters responded to the call to hasten to the new city, and it immediately grew in importance. The Legislature granted it a charter with extraordinary privileges, including the authorization of a military body, afterward known as the “Nauvoo Legion,” a corps to which all the male Mormons capable of bearing arms belonged. Nauvoo became the capital of the world to the Mormons, and attracted general attention. It was changed from a desert into an abode of plenty and luxury. Gardens sprang up as if by magic, fragrant with the most beautiful flowers of the New and the Old World, whose seeds had been brought from distant lands as souvenirs to the New Zion; broad streets were laid out, houses erected, and the busy hum of industries was heard in the marts of commerce. Steamboats unloaded their stores, and passengers came and departed for fresh supplies of merchandise; fields waved with golden harvests, and cattle dotted the neighboring hills.
As might be expected, some adventurers, robbers, and people of a generally disreputable character joined the community to cloak their villainous deeds in mystery and religion. Speculators, too, came and bought property with the hope of large remuneration. These two classes of persons became the source of much strife among the Mormons themselves, and between the Mormons and Gentiles.
But, marvellous to relate, within three years after their expulsion from Missouri the Mormons had a prosperous city of 10,000 people, while near the city were at least 20,000 more, and in the whole United States and elsewhere they numbered about 150,000, not much less than their present number.
Soon after the city of Nauvoo had been laid out, the selection was made for a remarkable temple which should be the crowning triumph of the wealth and perseverance of the Saints, all of whom were called to contribute to its erection by time and money. The foundation was laid with military ceremonies April 6th, 1841.
This unique building was made of finely-polished white limestone, and stood in the centre of a four-acre lot. It was 120 feet long by 83 feet in width and 60 feet in height. There were two stories in the clear and two in the recesses over the arches, making four tiers of windows—two Gothic and two round. There was a carved marble font resting on twelve life-sized oxen in marble in the basement for baptism. In structure the temple resembled no other church edifice, but was remarkably unique and graceful in its proportions, particularly the front of it, with its six fluted columns, its carved Corinthian caps and broad piazza. The walls were of massive thickness. The architectural ornaments of the interior were “holy emblems,” and the spire upon the tower, which was 100 feet in height, was tipped with a gilt angel and his Gospel trump. Barnum, it is said, had this gilt angel in his New York Museum for years after the destruction of the temple.
The other public buildings in Nauvoo were the Seventies’ Hall, the Masonic Temple, the Concert Hall, and the large hotel which the Prophet said was to be the “mission-house of the world,” where he would entertain emperors, kings, and queens from the Old World, who would come to him to inquire of the new faith.
This city, although peculiar, had many excellent features. There was no licensed place to sell liquors, and drunkenness was almost unknown. It was well governed. All was order and peace. There was great thrift and industry among the people. Loafers or idlers were in disrepute. If a stranger entered Nauvoo and was found to be lazy he was at once “whittled” out of the town by the deacons. This whittling process was a very ingenious thing. It was a method by which the suspected person was followed by certain officials who surrounded him or his abode, and in unison whittled at sticks carried for the purpose. At first it might seem a matter of accident; but its continuance from day to day was too much for human endurance, and the undesirable stranger departed to the satisfaction of his tormentors. Perhaps it would be a good thing if we had some similar way of ridding ourselves of idlers all over our land.
But with all these good features, there were some indications of the purpose of the Prophet to introduce polygamy, although his sons deny that he ever practised it or even believed in it; but, however that may be, intestine quarrels on the subject of polygamy and other dissensions in the Mormon ranks served to bring on a crisis in affairs at Nauvoo in 1844, which resulted in the murder of Joseph Smith and his brother, and the expulsion of the Mormons from the State.
The real causes, however, were the same ones that operated against them in Missouri. The people in the neighborhood were jealous of the rapidly-growing and flourishing city. They complained that their property disappeared mysteriously, perhaps stolen by the adventurers and robbers who had joined the Mormons just to commit such deeds under a cloak, and for whose acts the Mormons, as a people, were not to blame. But the chief reason was political. Smith began to agitate the question of a restitution of the property they had unjustly lost in Missouri. He visited Washington and had an interview with President Van Buren, who said: “Sir, your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you.”
The Mormons boasted that they had 100,000 in the faith throughout the country and that their vote was a balancing power. They voted in a body on all political questions. They even carried their arrogance so far in 1843 as to nominate Joseph Smith for President of the United States, and they have always declared that if he had lived until the next election he would have obtained that office. The Illinoisans, at any rate, believed that the Mormons determined to rule their State and intended to set all laws at defiance; and it was this belief that stirred their most bitter animosity; but internal dissensions among the Mormons gave them an opportunity to rid themselves of them in a most tragic way.
On account of troubles among dissenting Mormons, warrants were issued against Smith and other Mormon leaders; but the constable who served the warrants was driven out of Nauvoo. This act fired the smouldering hatred of the Illinoisans into terrible activity. The county authorities called out the militia to enforce the law. The Mormons hastily armed, and a civil war seemed impending, when the governor asked the Smiths to surrender and take their trial as the best means of satisfying the turbulent parties.
Now the charter of Nauvoo had been so cunningly devised that the State authorities were almost excluded from jurisdiction within its limits; and so the Smiths, feeling sure of an acquittal, obeyed the summons of the governor. They and other Mormon leaders were then conducted to Carthage and indicted for treason, and lodged in jail.
But on the 27th of June, 1844, an infuriated mob took matters in their own hands, decided to administer justice after their own fashion, and attacked the jail early in the morning. They broke down the doors of the rooms where the prisoners were confined, and horribly massacred Joseph and his brother Hyrum.
Now, those two persons were defenceless prisoners, and the Governor of the State had pledged to them safe conduct to the jail and before the court. Their murder was nothing else than a most foul assassination, the gravity of which was augmented by the fact that it was perpetrated by those who claimed to be upholders of law in contradistinction to the Mormons, who (they said) desired to set law at defiance.
But, besides being an act of lawlessness, it was the most impolitic thing that the people could have done. The martyr-like death of Smith threw a mantle of dignity over his person and a halo of consecration around his character that could in no other way have been secured; and it is reasonable to believe that, had Smith lived on, his own many weaknesses, the vulgarizing of revelation at his hands, the growing suspicions and disaffections of the faithful, and the fierce rancor and dissensions of the factions would have shivered Mormonism into pieces and sunk the fragments into depths too obscure for the searching of further history.
The Mormon people, with a self-control seldom seen, sought not to take into their own hands any measures of vengeance for the murder of their chieftain. After recovery from the first consternation over the awful tragedy, they began to ask themselves, Who shall rule the Church? Sidney Rigdon had already assumed the rôle of chief functionary, and had a revelation on this subject. But Brigham Young, who was President of the Twelve Apostles, hurried to Nauvoo from his mission in Boston; and by his shrewd sense, firm will, and practical ability he succeeded in gaining the leadership. Rigdon, who was accused of disaffection even in Smith’s day, was excommunicated, and Brigham was triumphant. He was strong where Smith was weak—in prudence, sagacity, common-sense, and practical energy. These natural Cromwellian qualities he brought to the front and put and kept in force. He endeavored to heal matters between the Mormons and the Gentiles by pacific advice, but contentions waxed rather than waned. The charter of Nauvoo was repealed by the State Legislature in 1845, and Young gave out the edict that the Mormons must leave Illinois.
But, in the midst of these stirring and exciting scenes, the Mormons gave a curious exhibition of their faith in Joseph Smith. He had predicted the completion of the temple, and Brigham commanded his followers to remain in Nauvoo in order to fulfil the revelation of the Prophet. Unheard-of exertions were made to carry out this command, and the temple was finished to its minutest ornamentation. When it was ready, the Mormons flocked into the city from every quarter, and there was great rejoicing over the consecration of “The Pride of the Valley,” as they called it. The interior was elaborately decorated with festoons and wreaths of flowers, chants were sung, prayers offered, and lamps and torches lighted to make it resplendent. When all this was done, the walls were dismantled, the ornaments taken down, and the symbols of their faith removed, to leave the noble building to be trodden down and profaned by the Gentiles.
Then began the Fourth Hegira or exodus of the Mormons, the most tragic of them all.
CHAPTER IV.
HISTORY OF MORMONISM (concluded).
The Fourth Hegira—Young’s shrewd plan of a Western Kingdom—Nauvoo’s sad end—Journey of the Mormons to Council Bluffs—Young’s forethought—The trip of “The Pioneers” across the wilderness—The halt at Salt Lake Valley—Young leads the remaining Mormons from Council Bluffs to Salt Lake—Their entertainment during their march—Folly of the Illinoisans in driving them out into the wilderness—Probable result of tolerance of the Mormons—Life begun anew in Salt Lake Valley—Salt Lake City established—Mills and workshops established and the Great Temple begun—Increase of the Mormon population—Value of their property in Utah—Public schools—A final brief glance at their history—How the Mormon Puzzle will not be solved.
Brigham long ere this had decided that his people must flee away to some remote region where collisions and conflicts should cease; and his sturdy will and untiring energy were exerted to carry out this decision. He selected California as the future residence of the Saints. At that time it formed a part of Mexico, and consequently was beyond the control of the detested Stars and Stripes and the uncomfortable people who had thrice expelled them from their dwelling-places. Brigham made known his purpose to the people and declared that they would move as rapidly as possible across Iowa to the Missouri River into the Indian country near Council Bluffs that season.
This new exodus began in February, 1846, the bleakest and coldest month in the year in that section of the country. An indescribable pageant of ox-carts and mule-teams, loaded with women, children, and all sorts of furniture passed out from Nauvoo to the miry tracks of the prairies; but the spirits of all, except the sick and helpless, were unbroken. Here Brigham Young proved himself the general as well as commander. He directed every detail of the evacuation. He arranged that the population should not move in a solid body, so as to disturb by their numbers the inhabitants of the sparsely-populated country they would traverse, but they should move in sections carefully selected, following each other at short intervals of time.
But in spite of this preparation there was a report that some of the Mormons intended to remain, and, in violation of the promises of the State, the Illinoisans called out the militia, and drove the defenceless residents who remained from their homes at the point of the bayonet, after bombarding the city for three days and nights. This was in the month of September, 1846. Thus ended Mormon history in Illinois; thus ended the history of Nauvoo, which is as wonderful as that of any city ever built. Its rise, progress, and destruction occupied only seven years, but many of its mysteries have yet to be told.
Meanwhile, Brigham was leading his companies across the prairies to Council Bluffs, their temporary halting-place. Men and women had been sent forward through Brigham’s foresight to plant crops by the wayside for those who should follow to gather; but still there was terrible suffering and much sickness among these bands, who toiled onward obedient to their leader’s direction. Dreams of a Mormon Empire, however, upon the Pacific coast consoled the people in great measure for the loss of the homes from which they fled and the hardships of their journey. As they moved slowly across the plains in 1846, the hopes which inspired them are well set forth in John Taylor’s hymn, “To Upper California:”
“We’ll go and lift up our standards,
We’ll go there and be free;
We’ll burst off all our fetters,
And break the Gentile yoke.”
Having reached Council Bluffs, Brigham then was compelled to make arrangements for the completion of the journey. The obstacles in the way of this intention would have intimidated a less courageous man. There was still about two thousand miles to traverse through an almost unknown country before the Pacific would lie before them. If at that time it was difficult to transport armed troops through the wilderness, what skill and energy must it not have required to send a nearly unprovided-for, feeble, and impoverished company of men, women, and little children such a great distance? But his wisdom and forethought controlled the whole matter.
In 1847 Brigham and one hundred and forty-two pioneers pushed resolutely westward over the wilderness track for eleven hundred miles; but while they were on their journey they learned that California had been conquered from Mexico, and that the Stars and Stripes were there supreme. They therefore halted on their arrival at the Salt Lake Valley, and Brigham Young, attracted both by the natural beauty and resources of that region, determined to make it the future residence of the Saints.
They arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley July 24th, and, ever since, that day is the great day of celebration for the Mormons, eclipsing the Fourth of July entirely. These pioneers began improvements for domestic comfort and prepared as far as possible for the residence of the Saints who were still at Council Bluffs in sickness, poverty, and discontent. Getting matters into material shape, Brigham returned to Iowa, where his presence seemed to inspire the expectant Mormons.
In the spring of 1848 they started from Council Bluffs for Salt Lake; and where in the history of our country will you find a more daring act than this of Brigham Young’s? And where will you find a more heroic one than this of the Mormon people? Well has it been said: “It was a pilgrimage which has not been paralleled in the history of mankind since Moses led the Israelites from Egypt.” They had sickness, weariness, skirmishes with the Indians; but they also had their pleasures and rewards in this extraordinary journey of several months. They were surprised with beautiful scenery, and they languished over dreary wastes. Brigham told them stories, encouraged dancing to make them merry, and had theatrical performances to distract their attention. Children were born, and numbers died and were buried on the route, but they pressed on under their leader’s direction for their new home beyond the States and their enemies, and in the autumn of 1848 crossed the Wahsatch Mountains and reached the Salt Lake Valley, their future home, although at that time a wilderness. Remember that this exodus was undertaken with the express purpose of placing themselves beyond the reach of the statutes with which their faith was in conflict; but while they were journeying toward their land of promise, it was conquered by the United States from Mexico. Nevertheless, they were in a remote and uninhabited portion of the national domain, and where mountain barriers and leagues of wilderness lay between them and those whom they regarded as their persecutors.
Now, it seems to me that the Government and people of Illinois did a most impolitic thing when they drove the Mormons from their State into the wilderness of the West. I firmly believe that if the Mormon Community had been allowed to remain at Nauvoo, free to develop its theories, in so far as they did not involve illegal acts, and in so far as they did, amenable to the law, but without illegal interference, the subsequent results would have been greatly changed.
Undoubtedly the best safeguard against error and its results is the influence of truth; and the magnetic current of truth which mingles with the common-sense of the people in every circle of society in a land like this may be trusted sooner or later, without the aid of means outside the law or extra proceedings within the law, to prevent the propagandists of error, however they may associate, from doing serious damage to society. Had the Mormons remained in Illinois and been treated humanely, in free contact with the healthful currents of the life about them, the irresistible influence of a hostile public sentiment and of laws humanely exercised would undoubtedly have made the Mormon problem a matter of little concern. To assert the contrary is to assume that law is inadequate to the protection of a community from overt acts, and that the barriers of religion and morality are insufficient for the protection of an overwhelming majority against the contaminating influence of a generally despised minority. We think we are warranted in making the statement that the people and authorities of Illinois are in great measure responsible for the development of a structure whose abnormal features, destined to sure decay in that State, were driven to deeper root by persecution and to free growth by exile. It is certainly evident that their treatment of the Mormon organization, aside from considerations of Christian charity and humanity, was lamentably wanting in political wisdom.
But it is said they were a set of cut-throats and libertines, who should have been banished from all civilized society or cast in the depths of the sea. But that idea is doubtless a wrong one, and never had its origin in any mind except one full of prejudice. A picture, which we may unquestionably accept as a fair one, of the Mormon Church in Nauvoo was presented in the diary of the late Josiah Quincy, published in the Independent a few years ago. His dispassionate judgment did not lead him to the conclusion, so general in those days, that the followers of Joseph Smith were for the most part cut-throats, marauders, and libertines; on the contrary, while finding in their fanatical ardor that which opposition might develop into a disturbing element in society, he credits them with qualities such as temperance, industry, and thrift, which are among the most important essentials of good citizenship.
And, then, we invite you to look upon the thousands who poured over the Wahsatch Mountains and descended into the fair valley below. What think you of the men who have toiled with unmurmuring bravery for months through dangers of ambush and storm and flood on their westward way? Are these all pretenders and knaves, or the willing dupes of such? Does this theory, or the idea of lust suggested by the doctrine of polygamy (which was not announced until four years afterward, and has never been practised by more than a small fraction of the Mormon population), afford a sufficient explanation of the spirit which animates this multitude to espouse a common cause, to accept obloquy and exile, and to meet the perils of the wilderness in the face of approaching winter? In this stubborn adherence to a common purpose, in this fierce battle with adverse circumstances, in this devotion to wives and children, do we find evidence to warrant the belief that the aged men, the stalwart husbands, and the youth of this great company are moved solely or chiefly by the lowest and basest of aims?
These hundreds of gray-haired women, too, in the passionless calm of old age; these many mothers with patient endurance bearing their part in the struggles of this strange life and caring tenderly for their babes; these young wives adhering to the fortunes of their husbands; the maidens found in so many groups—are these representatives of womankind unreasoning bond-creatures or depraved women whose chief mission is to minister to the caprices and passions of base and brutal men? Is all of this endurance of trial with a devotion approaching heroism the outcome of charlatanism, hypocrisy, and libertinism? He who will answer these questions in the affirmative must be a blind student of nature and human history. No. To account for a movement like that which led 10,000 people into the wilderness, casting themselves upon the future with a wonderful faith and daring, requires an inspiration based upon something deeper and stronger than the altogether grovelling and mercenary motives which suffice to unite the fortunes of those who are only adventurers or knaves? Yes, whatever may be said of the honesty or sincerity of those who moulded the belief of these thousands into its eccentric form, as they enter and take possession of Utah, they present the unmistakable evidences of a faith founded on sincere conviction.
Such was the beginning of the history of Mormonism in Utah, or Deseret, “The Land of the Honey-Bee,” as the Mormons called it. Imposition upon credulity there doubtless was; ambition, charlatanry, and lust, each may be supposed to have had its place; but nothing short of a belief to which men and women gave themselves without reserve could have accomplished the results seen. And only this, taken in connection with the mistaken policy of the Government of the United States, can account for the subsequent marvellous growth of the Mormon organization.
Lands were at once surveyed and placed under careful cultivation, and Salt Lake City was made habitable. Settlements were established in every direction, the soil was subdued and irrigated for cultivation. The people built the city and began the temple and established mills, workshops, and numerous industries under the personal directions of the ever-watchful bishops. Missionary corps were newly organized for foreign lands, and an Immigration Fund established which soon resulted in a swarming influx to Utah from all parts of Europe.
The Mormons have increased in the last thirty years between five and six hundred per cent. The Mormon population of Utah from about 11,000 in 1850 had increased in 1880 to a little over 120,000 out of a total of nearly 144,000. In place of a wilderness we find a vast cultivated domain threaded by highways and railroads. The wild lands of 1846 in 1880 yielded a product in cereals of nearly two million bushels, and in precious metals a value of nearly nine million and a half of dollars.
In the year 1882 the total value of the assessed property of the Territory was $25,579,000. The public schools of the Territory, from the number of thirteen only in 1850, had increased in 1880 to three hundred and ninety, maintained at a cost of more than $200,000.
All these marvellous results have been chiefly due to the enterprise and thrift of a people expelled as outlaws from Illinois, and under the ban of the law during most of their sojourn in Utah.
This, in brief, is the history of the Mormons. And who will say that it is not wonderful and strangely unique? History, indeed, affords few examples of the growth, from such humble foundations, of a fabric based on a religious idea, so important and enduring as that which originated in the supposed revelations made over thirty-five years ago to Joseph Smith, an obscure resident in a country town of Wayne County, N. Y.
Born in 1830 of fanaticism and superstition; cast out from the place of its birth immediately after; driven in contumely from its refuge in Kirtland, O.; buffeted in Missouri, and driven to Illinois; baptized in the blood of the Nauvoo riots, and compelled to fly into the wilderness, and there developing into what it is to-day; with whatever contempt we may regard its origin, with whatever loathing we may look upon its accursed doctrines, it seems to me we are compelled to confess that there is something in the Mormon organization which demands for its adherents, in spite of its abhorrent features, a degree of respect and consideration. They should be given as much respect, at least, as we would give the honest Brahmin, Buddhist, or Mohammedan. Yea, more; for many even of their latest converts have been taken from our Southern and Western States.
They have had four HEGIRAS, or exoduses, in their history thus far; and many think they see indications, in the strong pressure of the law that is now brought to bear upon them and the temporary flight of some of their leaders, that they will soon enter upon another pilgrimage. And it is supposed that Mexico will be their next resting-place. But the Mormons are too strongly intrenched in Utah to be easily uprooted. They have too much at stake there to leave unless driven out by the point of the bayonet, as they were from Missouri and Illinois. But God forbid that this nation should do anything which would drive them beyond the borders of our land to infect the atmosphere of another! We can overcome this great evil in this land of light and liberty far sooner and easier than it can be overcome in any other land under the broad canopy of heaven. Nay, more; we are responsible for it. It was bred and born in our country. Yes, this iniquitous system sprang out of the bosom of the American nation; and the American nation is in honor bound to grapple with it and throttle it. The honor of the nation demands that it should be uprooted as speedily as possible.
But the fact is, that we are confronted with a powerful organization, a gigantic evil. And let no one suppose that a few words written on paper sent out from Government headquarters at Washington would destroy this system any more than a few words spoken authoritatively by Congress would destroy Romanism or Presbyterianism in our land. Many years will be required at the least for the effectual stamping out of the iniquities of the Mormon system. The great Puzzle to solve is this: What remedies will be effective and accomplish the object in the shortest period of time?
In endeavoring to find the solution of this puzzle, we must regard this system in its THREEFOLD CHARACTER—viz.: as a political system, as a social system, and as a religious system. This we will endeavor to do in the chapters that will follow.