The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901 Part 67

When Governor c.u.mming left the territory, the secretary, Francis H.

Wooton, became acting governor. He made himself very offensive to the administration at Was.h.i.+ngton, and President Lincoln appointed Frank Fuller, of New Hamps.h.i.+re, secretary of the territory in his place, and Mr. Fuller proceeded at once to Salt Lake City, where he became acting governor. Later in the year the other federal offices in Utah were filled by the appointment of John W. Dawson, of Indiana, as governor, John F. Kinney as chief justice, and R. P. Flenniken and J. R. Crosby as a.s.sociate justices.

The selection of Dawson as governor was something more than a political mistake. He was the editor and publisher of a party newspaper at Fort Wayne, Indiana, a man of bad morals, and a meddler in politics, who gave the Republican managers in his state a great deal of trouble.

The undoubted fact seems to be that he was sent out to Utah on the recommendation of Indiana politicians of high rank, who wanted to get rid of him, and who gave no attention whatever to the requirements of his office. Arriving at his post early in December, 1861, the new governor incurred the ill will of the Mormons almost immediately by vetoing a bill for a state convention pa.s.sed by the territorial legislature, and a memorial to Congress in favor of the admission of the territory as a state (which Acting Governor Fuller approved). They were very glad, therefore, to take advantage of any mistake he might make; and he almost at once gave them their opportunity, by making improper advances to a woman whom he had employed to do some work. She, as Dawson expressed it to one of his colleagues, "was fool enough to tell of it,"

and Dawson, learning immediately that the Mormons meditated a severe vengeance, at once made preparations for his departure.

The Deseret News of January 1, 1862, in an editorial on the departure of the governor, said that for eight or ten days he had been confined to his room and reported insane; that, when he left, he took with him his physician and four guards, "to each of whom, as reported last evening, $100 is promised in the event that they guard him faithfully, and prevent his being killed or becoming qualified for the office of chamberlain in the King's palace, till he shall have arrived at and pa.s.sed the eastern boundary of the territory." After indicating that he had committed an offence against a lady which, under the common law, if enforced, "would have caused him to have bitten the dust," the News added: "Why he selected the individuals named for his bodyguard no one with whom we have conversed has been able to determine. That they will do him justice, and see him safely out of the territory, there can be no doubt."

The hints thus plainly given were carried out. Beadle's account says, "He was waylaid in Weber canyon, and received shocking and almost emasculating injuries from three Mormon lads."* Stenhouse says: "He was dreadfully maltreated by some Mormon rowdies who a.s.sumed, 'for the fun of the thing,' to be the avengers of an alleged insult. Governor Dawson had been betrayed into an offence, and his punishment was heavy."** Mrs.

Waite says that the Mormons laid a trap for the governor, as they had done for Steptoe; but the evidence indicates that, in Dawson's case, the victim was himself to blame for the opportunity he gave.

* "Polygamy," p. 195.

** "Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 592.

Stenhouse says that the Mormon authorities were very angry because of the aggravated character of the punishment dealt out to the governor, as they simply wanted him sent away disgraced, and that they had all his a.s.sailants shot. This is practically confirmed by the Mormon historian Whitney, who says that one of the a.s.sailants was a relative of the woman insulted, and the others "merely drunken desperadoes and robbers who,"

he explains, "were soon afterward arrested for their cowardly and brutal a.s.sault upon the fleeing official. One of them, Lot Huntington, was shot by Deputy Sheriff O. P. Rockwell [so often Young's instrument in such cases] on January 26, in Rush Valley, while attempting to escape from the officers, and two others, John P. Smith and Moroni Clawson, were killed during a similar attempt next day by the police of Salt Lake City. Their confederates were tried and duly punished."*

* "History of Utah," Vol. II, p. 38.

The departure of Governor Dawson left the executive office again in charge of Secretary Fuller. Early in 1862 the Indians threatened the overland mail route, and Fuller, having received instruction from Montgomery Blair to keep the route open at all hazards, called for thirty men to serve for thirty days. These were supplied by the Mormons.

In the following April, the Indian troubles continuing, Governor Fuller, Chief Justice Kinney, and officers of the Overland Mail and Pacific Telegraph Companies united in a letter to Secretary Stanton asking that Superintendent of Indian Affairs Doty be authorized to raise a regiment of mounted rangers in the territory, with officers appointed by him, to keep open communication. These pet.i.tioners, observes Tullidge, "had overrated the federal power in Utah, as embodied in themselves, for such a service, when they overlooked ex-Governor Young" and others.* Young had no intention of permitting any kind of a federal force to supplant his Legion. He at once telegraphed to the Utah Delegate in Was.h.i.+ngton that the Utah militia (alias Nauvoo Legion) were competent to furnish the necessary protection. As a result of this presentation of the matter, Adjutant General L. L. Thomas, on April 28, addressed a reply to the pet.i.tion for protection, not to any of the federal officers in Utah, but to "Mr. Brigham Young," saying, "By express direction of the President of the United States you are hereby authorized to raise, arm, and equip one company of cavalry for ninety days' service."* The order for carrying out these instructions was placed by the head of the Nauvoo Legion, "General" Wells--who ordered the burning of the government trains in 1857--in the hands of Major Lot Smith, who carried out that order!

* Tullidge's "History of Salt Lake City," p. 252.

** Vol. II, Series 3, p. 27, War of the Rebellion, official records.

Judges Flenniken and Crosby took their departure from the territory a month later than Dawson, and Thomas J. Drake of Michigan and Charles B. Waite of Illinois* were named as their successors, and on March 31 Stephen S. Harding of Milan, Indiana, a lawyer, was appointed governor.

The new officers arrived in July.

* After leaving Utah Judge Waite was appointed district attorney for Idaho, was elected to Congress, and published "A History of the Christian Religion," and other books. His wife, author of "The Mormon Prophet," was a graduate of Oberlin College and of the Union College of Law in Chicago, a member of the Illinois bar, founder of the Chicago Law Times, and manager of the publis.h.i.+ng firm of C. W. Waite & Co.

At this time the Mormons were again seeking admission for the State of Deseret. They had had a const.i.tution prepared for submission to Congress, had nominated Young for governor and Kimball for lieutenant governor, and the legislature, in advance, had chosen W. H. Hooper and George Q. Cannon the United States senators. But Utah was not then admitted, while, on the other hand, an anti-polygamy bill (to be described later) was pa.s.sed, and signed by President Lincoln on July 2.

During the month preceding the arrival of Governor Harding, another tragedy had been enacted in the territory. Among the church members was a Welshman named Joseph Morris, who became possessed of the belief (which, as we have seen, had afflicted brethren from time to time) that he was the recipient of "revelations." One of these "revelations" having directed him to warn Young that he was wandering from the right course, he did this in person, and received a rebuke so emphatic that it quite overcame him. He betook himself, therefore, to a place called Kington Fort, on the Weber River, thirty-five miles north of Salt Lake City, and there he found believers in his prophetic gifts in the local Bishop, and quite a settlement of men and women, almost all foreigners. Young's refusal to satisfy the demand for published "revelations" gave some standing to a fanatic like Morris, who professed to supply that long-felt want, and he was so prolific in his gift that three clerks were required to write down what was revealed to him. Among his announcements were the date of the coming of Christ and the necessity of "consecrating" their property in a common fund. Having made a mistake in the date selected for Christ's appearance, the usual apostates sprang up, and, when they took their departure, they claimed the right to carry with them their share of the common effects. In the dispute that ensued, the apostates seized some Morrisite grain on the way to mill, and the Morrisites captured some apostates, and took them prisoners to Kington Fort.

Out of these troubles came the issue of a writ by Judge Kinney for the release of the prisoners, the defiance of this writ by the Morrisites, and a successful appeal to the governor for the use of the militia to enable the marshal to enforce the writ. On the morning of June 13 the Morrisites discovered an armed force, in command of General R. T.

Burton, the marshal's chief deputy, on the mountain that overlooked their settlement, and received from Burton an order to surrender in thirty minutes. Morris announced a "revelation," declaring that the Lord would not allow his people to be destroyed. When the thirty minutes had expired, without further warning the Mormon force fired on the Morrisites with a cannon, killing two women outright, and sending the others to cover. But the devotees were not weak-hearted. For three days they kept up a defence, and it was not until their ammunition was exhausted that they raised a white flag. When Burton rode into their settlement and demanded Morris's surrender, that fanatic replied, "Never." Burton at once shot him dead, and then badly wounded John Banks, an English convert and a preacher of eloquence, who had joined Morris after rebelling against Young's despotism. Banks died "suddenly"

that evening. Burton finished his work by shooting two women, one of whom dared to condemn his shooting of Morris and Banks, and the other for coming up to him crying.*

* For accounts of this slaughter, see "Rocky Mountain Saints,"

pp. 593-606, and Beadle's "Life in Utah," pp. 413-420.

The bodies of Morris and Banks were carried to Salt Lake City and exhibited there. No one--President of the church or federal officer--took any steps at that time to bring their murderers to justice. Sixteen years later District Attorney Van Zile tried Burton for this ma.s.sacre, but the verdict was acquittal, as it has been in all these famous cases except that of John D. Lee. Ninety-three Morrisites, few of whom could speak English, were arraigned before Judge Kinney and placed under bonds. In the following March seven of the Morrisites were convicted of killing members of the posse, and sentenced by Judge Kinney to imprisonment for from five to fifteen years each, while sixty-six others were fined $100 each for resisting the posse. Governor Harding immediately pardoned all the accused, in response to a numerously signed pet.i.tion. Beadle says that Bishop Wooley advised the governor to be careful about granting these pardons, as "our people feel it would be an outrage, and if it is done, they might proceed to violence"; but that Bill Hickman, the Danite captain, rode thirty miles to sign the pet.i.tion, saying that he was "one Mormon who was not afraid to sign."

The grand jury that had indicted the Morrisites made a presentment to Judge Kinney, in which they said, "We present his Excellency Stephen S.

Harding, governor of Utah, as we would an unsafe bridge over a dangerous stream, jeopardizing the lives of all those who pa.s.s over it; or as we would a pestiferous cesspool in our district, breathing disease and death." And the chief justice a.s.sured this jury that they addressed him "in no spirit of malice," and asked them to accept his thanks "for your cooperation in the support of my efforts to maintain and enforce the law." It is to the credit of the powers at Was.h.i.+ngton that this judge was soon afterward removed.*

* Even the Mormon historian has only this to say on this subject: "Of the relative merit or demerit of the action of the United States and territorial authorities concerned in the Morrisite affair the historian does not presume to touch, further than to present the record itself and its significance."--Tullidge, "History of Salt Lake City," p. 320.

CHAPTER XVIII. -- ATt.i.tUDE OF THE MORMONS DURING THE SOUTHERN REBELLION

The att.i.tude of the Mormons toward the government at the outbreak of hostilities with the Southern states was distinctly disloyal. The Deseret News of January 2, 1861, said, "The indications are that the breach which has been effected between the North and South will continue to widen, and that two or more nations will be formed out of the fragmentary portions of the once glorious republic." The Mormons in England had before that been told in the Millennial Star (January 28, 1860) that "the Union is now virtually destroyed." The sermons in Salt Lake City were of the same character. "General" Wells told the people on April 6, 1861, that the general government was responsible for their expulsion from Missouri and Illinois, adding: "So far as we are concerned, we should have been better without a government than such a one. I do not think there is a more corrupt government upon the face of the earth."* Brigham Young on the same day said: "Our present President, what is his strength? It is like a rope of sand, or like a rope made of water. He is as weak as water.... I feel disgraced in having been born under a government that has so little power, disposition and influence for truth and right. Shame, shame on the rulers of this nation. I feel myself disgraced to hail such men as my countrymen."**

* Journal of Discourses, Vol. VIII, pp. 373-374.

** Ibid., Vol. IX, p. 4.

Elder G. A. Smith, on the same occasion, railing against the non-Mormon clergy, said, "Mr. Lincoln now is put into power by that priestly influence; and the presumption is, should he not find his hands full by the secession of the Southern States, the spirit of priestly craft would force him, in spite of his good wishes and intentions, to put to death, if it was in his power, every man that believes in the divine mission of Joseph Smith."* On August 31, 1862, Young quoted Smith's prediction of a rebellion beginning in South Carolina, and declared that "the nation that has slain the prophet of G.o.d will be broken in pieces like a potter's vessel," boasting that the Mormon government in Utah was "the best earthly government that was ever framed by man."

* Journal of Discourses, Vol. IX, p. 18.

Tullidge, discussing in 1876 the att.i.tude of the Mormon church toward the South, said:--

"With the exception of the slavery question and the policy of secession, the South stood upon the same ground that Utah had stood upon just previously.... And here we reach the heart of the Mormon policy and aims. Secession is not in it. Their issues are all inside the Union. The Mormon prophecy is that that people are destined to save the Union and preserve the const.i.tution.... The North, which had just risen to power through the triumph of the Republican party, occupied the exact position toward the South that Buchanan's administration had held toward Utah.

And the salient points of resemblance between the two cases were so striking that Utah and the South became radically a.s.sociated in the Chicago platform that brought the Republican party into office. Slavery and polygamy--these 'twin relics of barbarism'--were made the two chief planks of the party platform. Yet neither of these were the real ground of the contest. It continues still, and some of the soundest men of the times believe that it will be ultimately referred in a revolution so general that nearly every man in America will become involved in the action.... The Mormon view of the great national controversy, then, is that the Southern States should have done precisely what Utah did, and placed themselves on the defensive ground of their rights and inst.i.tutions as old as the Union. Had they placed themselves under the political leaders.h.i.+p of Brigham Young, they would have triumphed, for their cause was fundamentally right; their secession alone was the national crime."**

** Tullidge's "Life of Brigham Young," Chap. 24.

Knowledge of the spirit which animated the Saints induced the Secretary of War to place them under military supervision, and in May, 1862, the Third California Infantry and a part of the Second California Cavalry were ordered to Utah. The commander of this force was Colonel P. E.

Connor, who had a fine record in the Mexican War, and who was among the first, at the outbreak of the Rebellion, to tender his services to the government in California, where he was then engaged in business. On a.s.suming command of the military district of Utah, which included Utah and Nevada, Colonel Connor issued an order directing commanders of posts, camps, and detachments to arrest and imprison, until they took the oath of allegiance, "all persons who from this date shall be guilty of uttering treasonable sentiments against the government," adding, "Traitors shall not utter treasonable sentiments in this district with impunity, but must seek some more genial soil, or receive the punishment they so richly deserve."

When Connor's force arrived at Fort Crittenden (the Camp Floyd of General Johnston), the Mormons supposed that it would make its camp there. Persons having a pecuniary interest in the reoccupation of the old site, where they wanted to sell to the government the buildings they had bought for a song, tried hard to induce Colonel Connor to accept their view, even warning him of armed Mormon opposition to his pa.s.sage through Salt Lake City. But he was not a man to be thus deterred. Among the rumors that reached him was one that Bill Hickman, the Danite chief, was offering to bet $500 in Salt Lake City that the colonel could not cross the river Jordan. Colonel Connor is said to have sent back the reply that he "would cross the river Jordan if h.e.l.l yawned below him."

On Sat.u.r.day, October 18, Connor marched twenty miles toward the Mormon capital, and the next day crossed the Jordan at 2 P.M., without finding a person in sight on the eastern sh.o.r.e. The command, knowing that the Nauvoo Legion outnumbered them vastly, and ignorant of the real intention of the Mormon leaders, advanced with every preparation to meet resistance. They were, as an accompanying correspondent expressed it, "six hundred miles of sand from reinforcements." The conciliatory policy of so many federal officers in Utah would have induced Colonel Connor to march quietly around the city, and select some place for his camp where it would not offend Mormon eyes. What he did do was to halt his command when the city was two miles distant, form his column with an advance guard of cavalry and a light battery, the infantry and commissary wagons coming next, and in this order, to the bewilderment of the Mormon authorities, march into the princ.i.p.al street, with his two bands playing, to Emigrants' Square, and so to Governor Harding's residence.

The only United States flag displayed on any building that day was the governor's. The sidewalks were packed with men, women, and children, but not a cheer was heard. In front of the governor's residence the battalion was formed in two lines, and the governor, standing in the buggy in which he had ridden out to meet them, addressed them, saying that their mission was one of peace and security, and urging them to maintain the strictest discipline. The troops, Colonel Connor leading, gave three cheers for the country and the flag, and three for Governor Harding, and then took up their march to the slope at the base of Wahsatch Mountain, where the Camp Douglas of to-day is situated. This camp was in sight of the Mormon city, and Young's residence was in range of its guns. Thus did Brigham's will bend before the quiet determination of a government officer who respected his government's dignity.