ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN.

Joseph was forever active. His appearance in the midst of the saints was always the signal for increased activity in all phases of the work. A day or two after his arrival at Far West, while walking over the prairie, in company with several of the brethren, in one of those sudden out-bursts of inspiration so frequent and natural with and to him, he gave the following as the

POLITICAL MOTTO OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

The Constitution of our country formed by the Fathers of Liberty: peace and good order in society; love to God, and good will to man. All good and wholesome laws; virtue and truth above all things, and Aristarchy ^[A] live for ever; but woe to tyrants, mobs, aristocracy, anarchy and toryism, and all those who invent or seek out unrighteous and vexatious law suits, under the pretext and color of law or office, either religious or political. Exalt the standard of Democracy! Down with that of priestcraft, and let all the people say, Amen! That the blood of the fathers may not cry from the ground against us. Sacred is the memory of that blood which bought for us our Liberty.

[Footnote A: Aristarchy—a body of good men at the head of government.]

That is a motto that will challenge the admiration of all patriots, and is worthy of living in the archives of the great Republic.

Conferences, the convening of High Councils, preparing elders to go on missions, making arrangements for settling the ever-increasing numbers of the saints on the new lands of Far West, were the common labors of the day.

In May, 1838, Joseph and other leading brethren started on an exploring expedition to the north, for the purpose of finding new districts where more stakes of Zion might be laid off, and the gathering saints find homes. They traveled north until they reached Grand River, a stream sufficient for steamboat navigation in the rainy seasons, but so fluctuating that it is not practically a navigable stream. Time has cut the channel very deep, and left the wood-lined banks in places quite precipitous.

After reaching Grand River, Joseph and his party followed up the beautiful stream which lead them a north-westerly course. Having traveled some thirty miles from Far West, they camped on the north side of Grand River, at Tower Hill, a name which the Prophet Joseph gave it, because of finding an old ruined Nephite tower or altar on the hill. Half a mile north of Tower Hill, Joseph and party selected and laid claim to a site for a city in township sixty, ranges twenty-seven and eight, sections twenty-five, thirty-six, thirty-one, and thirty. Some of the saints had been located at the place for several months and called it Spring Hill; but by the mouth of the Lord it was named ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN;^[B] because, said he, it is the place where Adam shall come to visit his people, or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel ^[C] the prophet.

[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 116.]

[Footnote C: Daniel 8:9-14.]

Adam-ondi-Ahman, then, or Diahman, as it was familiarly known to the Missouri saints, is located on the north bank of Grand River. It is situated, in fact, in a great bend of the Grand. The river comes sweeping down from the north-west, and here makes a bold curve and runs in a meandering course to the north-east for some two or three miles, when it as suddenly makes another curve and flows again to the south-east. We have already spoken of Grand River as a stream that has worn a deep channel for itself, and left its banks precipitous; but here at Diahman that is only true of the south bank. The stream, as it rushed from the north-west, struck this height of prairie land containing beds of lime-stone, and not being able to cut its way through, it veered off to the north-east, and left that height of land standing like a palisade that rises very abruptly from the stream to a height of from fifty to seventy-five feet; but the summit of these bluffs is the common level of the high, rolling prairie, extending off in the direction of Far West. The bluffs on the north bank recede some distance from the stream, so that the river bottom at this point widens out to a small valley. The bluffs on the north bank of the river are by no means as steep as those on the south, and are covered with a heavier growth of timber. A ridge or spur runs out from the main line of the bluffs into the river bottom some two or three hundred yards, approaching the stream at the point where the curve is made. The termination of the bluff is quite abrupt, and overlooks a considerable portion of the river bottom. On the brow of the bluff stood the old stone altar which the brethren found there. When it was first discovered, according to those who visited it frequently, it was about sixteen feet long, by nine or ten feet wide, having its greatest extent north and south. The height of the altar as the brethren found it, was some two and a half feet at each end but gradually rising higher to the center, which was between four and five feet high—the whole surface being crowing.

Such was the altar at Diahman when the brethren found it. Now, however, it is thrown down and nothing but a mound of crumbling stones mixed with soil, and a few boulders, mark the spot which is doubtless rich in historic events. It was here that the patriarchs, associated with Adam and in his company, assembled at this altar to worship their God. Here their evening prayers ascended to heaven in the smoke of the burning sacrifice, and here angels instructed them in heavenly truths—but more of this anon.

North of the ridge on which the ruins of the altar are found, and running parallel with it, is another ridge, separated from the first by a depression or miniature valley, varying in width from fifty to a hundred yards. This small valley, with the larger one through which flows Grand River, is the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman. Three years previous to the death of Adam, he gathered the patriarchs Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch and Methuselah, together with all their righteous posterity, into this valley we have described; and there gave them his last blessing. And even as he blessed them, the heavens were opened, and the Lord appeared, and in the presence of their God, the children of Adam arose and blessed him, and called him Michael, the Prince, the Archangel. The Lord also blessed Adam, saying: "I have set thee to be the head—a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a Prince over them for ever." So great was the influence of this double blessing upon Adam, that though he was bowed down with age, under the out-pouring of the Holy Ghost he predicted what should befall his posterity, to their latest generations. Thus we find the valley of Diahman a hallowed spot, made so because of these sacred associations.

But all the interest concerning Diahman is not associated with the past, it is connected with the future as well. For it is in this same valley that the "Ancient of Days," Adam, will come and meet with his posterity, when thousand thousands shall minister to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand shall stand before him; here is where the books will be opened and the judgment shall sit. Here, too, the Son of Man will appear to this vast multitude, in the clouds of heaven, and coming to the Ancient of Days, shall give to him dominion and glory, and issue a decree that all people, nations and languages shall serve and obey him; and his dominion shall be everlasting, and his kingdom one that shall never be destroyed.^[D]

[Footnote D: Daniel 7th chapter; see also Doc. & Cov. Sec. 107.]

Such were the scenes of the past enacted in the "Valley of Diahman:" such are the splendid scenes to be enacted there in the future! No wonder if Satan has contended with the saints for the possession of this holy ground! Does not the fact of its being chosen as the place where the Kingdom of God shall be established in power no more to be destroyed, explain in part why there was such an effort on the part of the powers of darkness to drive the saints away from it? And, again, do not the very efforts made by Satan to drive away the saints, sustain the words of the prophets that declare this to be holy ground?

On the evening of May 21st, 1838, a few days after the arrival of Joseph's exploring party at Diahman, a council of the whole party was called, and it was decided not to go farther north, but counsel the people to settle at Diahman, and secure the land between there and Far West. So rapidly did the saints gather to this place, that about one month from the time it was selected, a stake of Zion was organized there. John Smith, uncle of the Prophet, was chosen president; Reynolds Cahoon and Lyman Wight were selected to be his counselors. A High Council was also organized, and Vinson Knight was chosen acting Bishop pro tempore.