THE YEARS, 1869, '70.

Co-operative Movement.—Cove Fort.—Pronouncement Against Use of Wine.—Organization of Bear Lake Stake.—Visit of Schuyler Colfax.—The Godbe Movement.—Descendants of Cain.—Utah Central R. R. Completed.—Plural Marriage.—Boston Board of Trade Visits Utah.—Sayings of Brigham Young.—The Newman-Pratt Discussion.—Martin Harris Rebaptized.

January 1st, 1869, Wilford Woodruff accompanied Brigham Young to Ogden, where a meeting was held for the purpose of discussing a grant of land to the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads for the use of their terminal station. On the 2nd they met Governor Stanford of California and Mr. Durant, both railroad men. The former rode with President Young to view the proposed depot site. The authorities had done all in their power to make Salt Lake City the terminal, hoping that the Central Pacific would come by way of the south end of the lake. They accepted their disappointment gracefully and did all they could to expedite the construction of the railroads and terminal facilities at the Junction City.

Much of the month of January was devoted by Elder Woodruff to his legislative work. Under date of the 22nd, however, he recorded the testimony of Joseph B. Nobles to the effect that he officiated in the first plural marriage of this dispensation, by sealing Eliza Beman to the Prophet Joseph Smith, on May 6th, 1841.

On the following 7th of February, a Presbyterian minister, Rev. Mr. Stewart, was accorded the privilege of addressing the Saints in the Tabernacle, and in the evening at the Fourteenth Ward Assembly Room. From the earliest times in Utah there was a manifest willingness on the part of the leaders to grant the use of their places of worship to ministers of the various denominations. The teachings of these ministers afforded the Saints an opportunity of contrasting the doctrines of the Latter-day Saints with those of the various sects. Elder Woodruff, in his journal, said that the year 1869 was characterized by the great co-operative movement, which made rapid headway throughout the settlements in Utah. The early work of the pioneers had been the redemption of the land. To their mind, however, there was a special virtue in the cultivation of the soil and the manufacturing of those things needed by the pioneers. Trade and speculation were somewhat at variance with the religious spirit and tendencies of those times, but the movement was hastened by the advent into the Territory of large numbers of Gentiles who fed and fattened upon trade and speculation. The wealth acquired by these parvenu merchants was quite naturally a source of considerable power. They had the money to carry on almost any propaganda which they saw fit to inculcate in the minds of the people of the United States; more than that, the great profit to them often became a heavy burden to the people. There were in those days strong antagonisms, and partisan spirit ran high. Many of the merchants used their money in a manner harmful to the best interests of the Latter-day Saints, and in such a way as to engender a hatred towards them by the people of the United States.

To mitigate these unfortunate conditions, and lessen the power of certain ones of their enemies, and for the further purpose of permitting the Latter-day Saints themselves to reap their share of business profits, the co-operative system was inaugurated. The people were encouraged to take stock in these institutions which were organized largely under the direction and control of the religious leaders in the various communities.

In traveling through the settlements of the Saints, the subject of co-operation was one of the chief topics of discourse. Every town, where the Saints had settled, organized its co-operative store. In early days these stores were potent factors, and the control of prices was often regulated by them. The authorities urged the managers of those institutions to practice equity in their business affairs. The first wholesale dry goods store to do a wholesale business, was organized March 1st, 1869.

The non-Mormon merchants of Salt Lake City naturally felt the force of the new movement and made a proposition to President Young to the effect that they would be glad to sell him their establishment and merchandise at cost, he to collect debts and assume their liabilities. Upon his doing so, they promised to quit the Territory. They based their grievance largely upon the instructions given to the people, in which they were admonished not to trade with their enemies. Brigham Young, who was equal to the occasion, called their attention to the fact that any and every man had a perfect right to engage in business within this Territory. He stated, however, that his objection was to a certain class of merchants who took advantage of the wealth which they accumulated from the people to spread misinformation about the Latter-day Saints.

Of course the offer was a bluff. These men might have left the Territory and they might have come back the next day. There was no offer on their part to put themselves under obligations not to take up merchandising any time they saw fit, after disposing of their property; and even if they had entered into such a bond, it would have been illegal in restraint of trade. It was a bluff, and used for outside effect. President Young thought they would make a most excellent bargain if they could sell out on the terms proposed,—terms that any merchant would be glad to accept.

On the 16th of April Elder Woodruff took up another of those preaching tours with President Young to St. George, and settlements lying along the way. He stated in his journal that just before leaving Salt Lake he received word that his nephew by marriage, Franklin B. Woolley, had been killed by the Indians, near the Mohave River in Southern California. Elder Woolley was at the time in charge of a company of men who were engaged in freighting goods from southern California to the St. George co-operative store. He was the son of Bishop Edwin D. Woolley of the Thirteenth Ward of Salt Lake City. When his remains were found, it was discovered that his body had been pierced by several arrows. The mule upon which he rode was tied to a tree with its throat cut.

Along the way they dedicated, on the 17th of April, the new meeting-house in Springville, President D. H. Wells offering the dedicatory prayer. On reaching Nephi the authorities took up the Word of Wisdom and urged it most strenuously upon the Saints. The trip was attended by severe storms, rain, and snow. Almost all the way the roads were very disagreeable. When they reached Cove Creek Fort, a sort of half-way station between Kanosh and Beaver, the stopped for the night. The distance between Beaver and Kanosh was so great that it afforded the Indians an excellent opportunity to attack travelers and make good their escape.

Elder Woodruff's journal records the following description of it: "This Fort is a very substantial building. I think it is the best in the Territory. It is built of volcanic rock laid in with mortar. Each of the four walls is one hundred feet long on the outside, eighteen feet high from the foundation. On the east side is a gate way fourteen feet wide with a substantial arch six feet deep and three inches thick, set inside. Above this, preparations are being made for a look-out and telegraph office. On the west side is a gate way eight by four feet, with projections inside ten and one-half feet wide, ten feet high. The front contains twelve rooms, six on the north and six on the south side, ten of which are sixteen by fourteen feet, and two are sixteen by seventeen feet, and nine feet four inches high. There is a chimney to each room, three feet wide and two feet thick. The chimneys rise six feet above the top of the wall. The rooms are well lighted and have five panel doors. The roof is covered with good shaved pine shingles. The entire building contains two thousand two hundred and fifty perch of rock, one thousand nine hundred and seventy-five bushels of lime, and has cost to the present $22,690.00."

The Fort was a great protection in those days. It stood not far from the mouth of the canyon which ran up into Sevier Valley, and was a great necessity to all travelers, Mormon, Jew, or Gentile, who in those days went to California by what was called the Southern Route.

On reaching Toquerville, the company turned east and drove up the Virgin River as far as Rockville. "Here we found a beautiful place. A street one-half a mile long with rows of houses on each side and fine gardens and orchards running through the center of the town. The beautiful vineyards and the high mountains make the scene somewhat romantic."

On the 29th of April, the company returned to Toquerville where President Young, in a pronounced manner, depreciated the use of wine. "You put wine on your table morning and night and it will be an injury to you. Set a good example before all, and keep the Word of Wisdom; if you do not, you will soon be severed from the Church."

On leaving there they went directly to St. George. The town had grown wonderfully in those days, and had become one of the most flourishing towns in Utah. A number of most excellent families had been called to settle the place under the leadership of Erastus Snow, who had charge of the work in the southern part of the Territory. It was here that President Young recommended the establishment of wholesale stores for St. George and Parowan. When they had reached the latter place on their return, President Young suggested that an invitation be sent the Moquitche Indians to come and locate with the Saints, the report having reached him that these Indians felt desirous of so doing.

On their return, Elder Woodruff said: "On May 16th Apostle Cannon and myself spoke in the Tabernacle. We were followed by a Methodist minister, a Mr. Allen, a descendant of Col. Ethan Allen. Mr. Allen had also spoken in the morning. He was very favorably impressed with what he had seen and with the doctrines of the people."

On the 10th of May Elder Woodruff recorded what to him was a very sad event. His daughter Susan and children, obedient to the wishes of their husband and father, left Utah for the States. The husband had little or no faith and did not care to remain longer among the Saints. However, Elder Woodruff blessed his daughter and children and prophesied good things concerning them and lived to see his daughter and all her children but one return unto the fold and come back to Salt Lake City.

In the month of June Brigham Young and party started on another tour to the North. The pioneer work in the outposts of the Territory needed the watch care and encouragement of President Young, who gave detailed attention to everything which affected the welfare of the people. The Saints who located in these distant places were not permitted to settle down, by reason of their isolation, into a neglectful and indifferent life. They were unlike most pioneers on the outskirts of civilization, as their religious duties imposed upon them public obligations which were educational in their effect. In Bear Lake on this journey, a new stake organization was effected, with Elder David P. Kimball as president. Apostle Charles C. Rich had already located in Paris, Bear Lake, and was the general supervisor of the colonizing work in the far north.

On their return to Salt Lake City, Elder Woodruff took up his work on the farm, where he hoed corn, hauled hay, and harvested his wheat. On Pioneer Day, which was celebrated throughout the cities and towns of Utah, Elder Woodruff wrote meditatively as follows: "Twenty-two years ago today I drove the team which brought President Brigham Young from Emigration Canyon into this City. He lay upon a bed, sick in my carriage. As soon as his eyes rested upon the beautiful yet desert scene of the valley before us he said: 'This is the place; for the Lord has shown it to me in a vision.' We now number more than a hundred thousand souls. See what God hath wrought! Let His name be honored above all else!"

On the 25th of that month he recorded the return of George Nebeker from a mission to the Hawaiian Islands. He brought with him Napela, a native Saint, who addressed the Saints in the Tabernacle of that date. Napela, was the first Hawaiian to visit Utah.

On the 14th of September, that year, Elder Woodruff recorded the death of Ezra T. Benson, who died suddenly at Ogden City, at the home of Elder Loren Farr. The following Sunday Elder Woodruff preached a discourse in the Tabernacle, in honor of Brother Benson, and gave a brief sketch of his life. He said that on that occasion there were about sixty ladies and gentlemen from Ohio, who occupied the front benches and who gave strict attention to what was said.

In those times many distinguished visitors passed through Salt Lake City, enroute to California. They naturally remained over to visit Salt Lake City and listen to the discourses of the Mormon authorities. From Elder Woodruff's journal it will be observed that the speakers dwelt extensively upon the principle of the patriarchal order of marriage. They explained the views of the Latter-day Saints and defined them on religious, moral, and scientific grounds. The members of Congress were frequently in the audience, and had the opportunity of listening to the authorities, and therefore obtained their information on that important subject first-hand.

On October 3rd he gave an account of the visit of Schuyler Colfax, Mr. Ordway, the Sergeant-at-arms of the House of Representatives, and several members of Congress. These distinguished visitors attended meeting in the afternoon, and the 14th Ward meeting-house in the evening. In those days there was a great deal of discussion about the principle of Plural Marriage, and its rightfulness was urged with great force by the Church leaders. The Territory was gaining notoriety throughout the country, and the practice of the people here was a matter of frequent and bitter discussion. The leading men of the nation were somewhat puzzled over a situation that was indeed peculiar to them. The fruit was good, the tree was bad, as they found it. There were prosperous and happy homes. There was progress in every direction. The leaders were painstaking, industrious, frugal, God-fearing men. There was every evidence of their integrity, but their system of marriage was not in harmony with the traditions of the past, and the religious practices of Christendom. These distinguished visitors felt to praise and also to condemn. They were listening to discourses on a question to which they could not give their assent.

They were entertained by means of a Territorial Fair, at which there were seen the products of the Territory. Mr. Colfax and his friends expressed their surprise at what they saw. The grain, vegetables, fruits, horses, cattle, merchandise, and all the evidences of industry were far beyond their expectation. Thousands of people thronged the fair grounds, and the occasion was one of general enthusiasm. Apostle Woodruff did not conceal the pride which he felt in the premiums that were awarded because of his horses, his sheep, and a cow.

The day after the opening of the Fair, the October Conference convened. The attendance was unusually large. A large measure of prosperity was enjoyed, and the people gathered by the thousands. Albert Carrington was chosen a member of the Twelve in consequence of the death of Ezra T. Benson. A Mr. Coe from Jerusalem was in attendance and addressed the congregation.

The Territory now had organized a militia which was called out for drill in the various counties. At this time these gatherings of the militia upon the large drill grounds, in different parts of the Territory, was a source of military pride, which quite generally aroused a militant spirit. The militia of Salt Lake County met on their large drill ground on the west side of the Jordan. Their organization was complete. The difficulties with the Indians, too, had much to do with this new organization. Patriotic spirit was engendered, and there was generally considerable excitement on those occasions. Elder Woodruff participated in these drills and in 1870 acted as chaplain.

Just about this time he recorded a visit which he, together with Orson Pratt and George Q. Cannon, made to William S. Godbe, E. L. T. Harrison, and T. B. H. Stenhouse. This was popularly known as the Godbe Movement. These men were strong characters, and men of a set determination to have their own way. The mercantile movement of these times, by which co-operative stores were established, afforded them, they pretended, an opportunity to declare against President Young and his policy. His leadership was a source of jealousy to them. These Church leaders hoped to persuade them not to yield to what was their evident purpose, to oppose the Church. Elder Woodruff said he found them in the dark, and bitter. He pleaded with them to repent and turn from their wrongful course. Subsequently, however, they broke away entirely, and they and their families left the Church.

On the 27th of October the leaders took up one of their tours of the south. New towns were springing up, and new conditions were so rapidly arising that constant vigilance was required.

This closed the year 1869. It was an important year in the history of Salt Lake because of the completion of the Utah Central Railroad branch line from Ogden to Salt Lake City. It had been a year of considerable anxiety to the Saints in consequence of the efforts of Congress to legislate against the practice of plural marriage among the Latter-day Saints. Elder Woodruff wrote of the bill as "a bill to deprive the Latter-day Saints from keeping the commandments of God. The Lord has revealed the patriarchal order of marriage, and we shall be damned if we do not obey it."

In order to counteract the influence against the Latter-day Saints, the ladies in Salt Lake City held a mass-meeting in the Tabernacle to protest to Congress against the passage of the Cullom Bill or any other bill which might militate against the practice of plural marriage. The meeting was one of great enthusiasm. Stirring speeches were made and resolutions adopted and forwarded to Congress.

On the 10th of January Elder Woodruff wrote: "This is a great day in Utah. Some twelve or fifteen thousand people of the city and surrounding country, men, women, and children, assembled around the railroad depot to celebrate the completion of the Utah Central Railway, and to see the last rail laid and the last spike driven by President Young. This railroad was built by the laboring men of the Latter-day Saints. There were present bands of music from the City and Camp Douglas. On the stand were the First Presidency, the Twelve Apostles, the officers of the Union and Central and Pacific Railroad, including the officers of Fort Douglas.

"A large steel mallet was used on the occasion. It was made by James Lawson and elegantly chased on the top, and there was engraved upon it a bee hive surmounted by the inscription "Holiness to the Lord." Under the bee hive were the letters "U. C. R. R." The spike was constructed of home made iron and manufactured by the late Elder Nathaniel V. Jones. It was ornamented like the mallet and the ornamentation was also the work of Brother Lawson. Before the ceremony of laying the last rail commenced, the sun, which had been completely concealed by the clouds during the early part of the day, burst forth with great brilliancy as if determined to enhance the general joy by his genial rays. The ceremony took place about nine o'clock, after which a salute of thirty-seven guns was given,—a salute for each mile of the road. Captain Croxall's band enlivened the scene by its strains of sweet music."

The following prayer was then offered by Elder Woodruff: "O God, the Eternal Father, we have assembled on this occasion to celebrate one of the grandest events of the generation in which we live, and to offer up the gratitude of our hearts with thanks-giving for Thy merciful and protecting care that was over us when we were led into these Valleys by Thy servant Brigham Young twenty-two years ago. We found then a complete desert inhabited only by wild beasts and a few red men, who roamed over the plains. To-day we behold the teeming thousands of the Anglo Saxon race assembled here to celebrate the completion of a line of railroads into this City, which has opened up commerce between us and all the world. Thou hast enabled the Saints who have gathered here from the nations of the earth, to fill these Valleys of the Mountains with six hundred miles of cities, towns, villages, gardens, orchards, vineyards, and fields; and the desert has been made to blossom as the rose. We should be ungrateful did we not acknowledge Thy hand in Thy protecting care, which has been over us and which has enabled us to assist in levelling these mountains and exalting the valleys and in laying an iron band which has bound this continent together from ocean to ocean and made all the various states and territories of this mighty nation neighbors to each other. For all these blessings we render the gratitude of our hearts unto Thee, and we pray that Thy blessings may rest upon this day. We dedicate this railroad unto Thee, the Lord our God. We pray that Thy blessings may rest upon it, and upon those who have built it and labored on it. We thank Thee for the peace and quietude we have enjoyed, for the many years that we have dwelt in these Valleys of the Mountains. Continue Thy blessings, O God, we beseech Thee, unto the inhabitants here and throughout the nation. These favors and blessings we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, Amen."

"A speech was then read by George Q. Cannon for President Young. Telegrams from Governor Stanford of California and others, expressing their regrets at not being able to be present, were then read, after which addresses were made by Wm. Jennings, Col. B. O. Carr of the Union Pacific, T. B. Morris, chief engineer of the Western Division of the U. P. R. R., John Taylor, and Mr. Campbell, superintendent of the Utah Division of the Central Pacific R. R. These were all published in the News of January 11th, 1870, with the exception of Mr. Campbell's which the recorders could not hear. The benediction was pronounced by Henry W. Naisbitt. In the evening the streets were enlivened by great throngs of people. The illumination of the City began at six o'clock p. m., and by seven o'clock there was the greatest brilliancy throughout the streets and in the skies. All public buildings and stores were illuminated. I attended a grand ball in the Theatre where two hundred persons could occupy the floor at the same time in the dance. There were some fifteen hundred people present, including the military officers of Camp Douglas. All the federal officials, including the Judges, were there. I took with me three of my wives, Phoebe, Emma, and Sarah. We ate supper at the Townsend House."

On the 16th of January Elder Woodruff with a number of others started by train to Ogden for the purpose of attending the funeral of Bishop C. W. West, who had died in California. On the way to Ogden the train was delayed by an accident so that those aboard reached that place only in time to witness the burial service. "Coming back, we held in the car one of the best meetings I ever attended in my life. We had twenty-two speeches and about the same number of songs. Among the speakers were Elders John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith, and Brigham Young, Jr., much of the spirit of God rested upon us, and strong testimonies were borne. We reached home about ten o'clock."

On January the 27th he recorded the death of his Uncle Ozem Woodruff, who had died the preceding December at the advanced age of ninety-two. About the same time he was industriously mailing papers to his friends in the East in order that he might circulate the speech against the Saints by Vice-president Schuyler Colfax and the reply thereto by Elder John Taylor.

The conference of April 6th, that year, was poorly attended owing to the inclemency of the weather. There was a foot of snow at the time on the ground. Naturally, some excitement existed at the time in consequence of the legislation by congress. Conference was held but one day and then adjourned until the 5th of May, when it reconvened and lasted three days.

The latter part of May was made interesting to the people of Salt Lake by a visit of the Boston Board of Trade. The company occupied eleven Pullman cars, and consisted of one hundred and twenty wealthy merchants and business men from the City of Boston. They attended the Tabernacle meeting and were addressed by Elders Woodruff and George A. Smith. In the afternoon President Young spoke to about three hundred strangers and a large congregation of the Saints. After the service, President Young, George A. Smith, D. H. Wells, John Taylor, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, and George Q. Cannon were invited to dine in the palace cars with the noted visitors.

On the fourth of June a large party of the leading men of the Church started on one of their tours through Malad and Bear Lake Valleys. President Young was indefatigable in his travels throughout the Church. He was everywhere present with counsel and encouragement to build up the Zion of God. The people were not allowed to sleep upon the laurels they had won. They were not permitted to settle down to an indifferent comfort. On that trip they were received everywhere with honor and enthusiasm.

On different occasions Elder Woodruff quoted President Young as saying: "We are surrounded by the Lamanites who are degraded and cast down, yet they are of the house of Israel and we should set them a good example. Let us not get down to their ways, but rather seek to exalt them." Of a certain class he said, "Elders many times are vain and trifling, and seem to forget their calling and position in the Church. We should come to realize that we have the priesthood and are set as an example to all men. We should magnify our calling and walk with dignity before the Lord." In reference to the building up of Zion he further said: "It is our duty to build up Zion. We cannot do it by singing and praying alone. It will take the work of the people. When Zion is built up, it will be beautiful and glorious. All we have done already is attracting the attention of the world."

On that journey Elder Woodruff quotes the words of Lorenzo Snow, who gave an account of his experience when drowned in the Pacific Ocean. He was under many feet of water and was restored to life by the power of God. He said that for many years previous to this event he had suffered from sick headache, but afterwards it had left him and he had been entirely healed from it. Following the account given by Lorenzo Snow, he quoted these words from the lips of President Young: "Mark my words, every Latter-day Saint who gets rich and does not acknowledge the hand of God in it will be damned. A hypocrite or a traitor cannot gain the confidence of God or man. We must obey the Lord and keep His laws. The God of Heaven has kept the Celestial Law, and so must we if we obtain the same glory with Him. I would rather have slept with Joseph Smith in death than to live to turn one honest man from the Church. The authorities in these towns and cities should deal kindly and justly with the Saints."

The spirit of those times is repeated in the language of Lorenzo Snow in his address to the people at Logan on the occasion of that tour: "The Lord does not intend that the Saints shall live always in dens and caves of the earth, but that they shall build fine houses. When the Lord comes he will not expect to meet a dirty people, but a people of refinement, having glory as the bride to the Lamb of God. When we were called to go south, I continued to improve my property up to the last moment; at the same time I expected to burn up everything except what we had to take south with us. When we were called to go south we were united as the heart of one man."

After the return of the President's party from the north, Elder Woodruff busied himself by giving encouragement to the silk industry which the people were then endeavoring to establish in the Territory; and in company with Robert T. Burton took up the work of selling the bonds of the Central Pacific Railroad.

On the 12th, 13th, and 14th of August he gave an account of the discussion between Orson Pratt and Doctor Newman on the subject of Polygamy, an account of which has been issued as a separate publication. The Sunday following the discussion, William H. Seward, former Secretary of State, attended the services in the Tabernacle. He was then on his way to China. He was deeply impressed by the growth and development of the Saints, and was led to say that America had "never produced a greater statesman than President Brigham Young."

On the 4th of September, Martin Harris, one of the Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, appeared before the people in the Tabernacle, he having been brought to Utah largely through the interest and labors of Elder Edward Stevenson. "Martin Harris arose and bore his testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon. He was eighty-eight years old, and he finally came up to Zion to lay his body down with the Saints. He has been separated from the Church thirty-three years and was far behind the times, yet he bore a strong testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon." On the 17th of that month Elder Stevenson rebaptized Martin Harris and he was confirmed by John Taylor.

In closing his journal for that year he says that he traveled in all, seventeen hundred miles, attended one hundred and sixty-six meetings, and preached seventy-five discourses. In the Endowment House he sealed over five hundred couples. In addition to his religious duties, Elder Woodruff served forty days in the Territorial Legislature. He also took pleasure in the thought that he had labored upon his farm considerable time in plowing, harvesting, planting, and hoeing. He speaks of his potatoes, of his squash, and his apples and his hay. These were the products of the soil, which he raised for the support of himself and of his wives and children. No public man upon whom weighed heavily the duties of both church and state more perfectly loved and honored that divine command, "By the sweat of thy brow shalt thou earn thy bread."