EXPERIENCES IN ARIZONA, 1879.

In Arizona.—An Epistle to the World.—Birthday Celebrated in St. George.—Travels in Arizona.—Hunt with Pelone, the Apache Chief.—A Visit to the Zunies.—Travels with Lot Smith.—Dream.—Letters.

On New Year's Day, 1879, Elder Woodruff moved to his new brick home next door south of the Valley House. The old Valley House had been his first mountain home. On the third of the month, in company with Moses Thatcher, he started on a tour of the southern counties. One of the chief purposes of this tour was to organize local boards of trade. While they were at Nephi on the 6th, Elder Thatcher received word of his appointment to fill the vacancy in the Quorum occasioned by the death of Elder Orson Hyde. They reached St. George on the 20th of the month.

On February 7th Elder Woodruff found it necessary to go into exile because of the special effort at that time to prosecute those in Plural Marriage. "For the first time in my life I have had to flee from my enemies for the gospel's sake, or for any other cause. They are trying to arrest me for obeying the law of God in reference to Plural Marriage." To escape his pursuers he went to Arizona where he remained a couple of weeks, and then returned to St. George. While there in the Temple on Washington's birthday he wrote an epistle to the world, dated February 22nd, 1879, from which the following is taken:

EPISTLE OF ELDER WILFORD WOODRUFF, ONE OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

To the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and to all the world, greeting:—

I feel desirous once more, while in the flesh, by the word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ, to bear my testimony unto you as the Church and Kingdom of God, established on the earth by the God of heaven in this last dispensation and fulness of times; I also wish to bear my testimony to all nations under heaven, to emperors, kings, presidents, statesmen, governors, judges, Jew, and Gentile, and to all rulers, and the ruled who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. My testimony is this unto all men and nations, that you live in the day and hour of the judgments of God Almighty. You live in the day and generation when the God of Israel has set His hand to perform His work, His strange work in the latter-days. You live in the age in which God will bring to pass the fulfilment of that flood of prophecy and revelation which has been spoken by all the prophets since the world began, which stands recorded in the sacred books of divine truth; and the fulfilment of these revelations will involve the destiny of the whole world, Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, high and low, saint and sinner, Babylon and Zion. Therefore, prepare yourselves, O! ye inhabitants of the earth, for the hour of God's judgment is at the door. As it was in the days of Noah and of Lot, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.

I address myself first to the Saints of God, who have entered into covenant with the Lord and have been ordained unto the holy priesthood. If you are living your religion, and enjoy the spirit of inspiration, which is your duty and privilege, you know as God lives that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God; that he received the administration of angels; that he brought forth the Book of Mormon, and translated it by the power of God. You know he received the fulness of the Everlasting Gospel, and the holy priesthood and apostleship and the keys thereof; and that he organized the Church of Christ, the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth, with its gifts and graces, with which the Lord is "well pleased." You do know Joseph Smith, the Prophet, left his testimony upon the earth and sealed that testimony with his blood, and that testament is in force upon the world, and that testament is filled with the revelations of God, that stand upon its pages like flames of living fire, ready to be fulfilled upon all the inhabitants of the earth. In this testament the Lord has commanded His servants to go to all the world and preach this gospel of the kingdom to every creature, as far as doors are open. He also commanded His servants to visit New York, Albany, Boston, and all the notable cities and villages of the world, reproving them for their ungodly deeds, and warning them of the desolation and utter destruction which awaits them, if they reject the testimony of the servants of God. "With you, saith the Lord Almighty, I will rend their kingdoms, for I will shake not only the earth, but the starry heavens shall tremble; you cannot see it now, but soon you will see it and know that I am God." You Latter-day Saints, do you not know these things are true? You do, and so do I, for the spirit of God bears record, and the record is truth, and truth abideth forever. Under the circumstances, what manner of men and women ought we to be? Are we prepared as a people for the great events which await us; which await both Zion and Babylon? Judge ye! What is our duty as Saints of the living God? It is our duty to humble ourselves before the Lord and call upon His name, until we are filled with the Holy Ghost and the spirit of inspiration, which is the light of Christ. Pay our tithes and offerings, keep the commandments of God and have faith in His word, remember and honor the ordinances we have observed, and the covenants and obligations we have entered into in the holy places and temples of our God. We should unite ourselves together in a temporal as well as in a spiritual point of view, as directed by the wise men of Israel. We should seek to build up the Kingdom and Zion of our God, and not ourselves alone. When we do these things we are prepared as a people to let our prayers ascend into the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth, and they will be heard and answered upon our heads. Again, this testament which Joseph Smith left, contains a revelation and commandment from God, out of heaven, concerning the patriarchal order of marriage. The Lord has commanded us to have our wives and children sealed to us, for time and eternity, that we may have them with us in our family organizations in the resurrection to dwell with us forever in the eternal worlds, that we may have an increase of posterity forever in connection with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the ancient patriarchs. I would say to all Israel, treat your wives and children kindly, and keep the commandments of God and trust in Him, and He will fight your battles. And I will say, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, that "Mormonism" will live and prosper, Zion will flourish, and the Kingdom of God will stand in power and glory and dominion as Daniel saw it, when this nation is broken to pieces as a potter's vessel and laid in the dust, and brought to judgment, or God never spoke by my mouth. Therefore I say to all the Saints throughout the world, be faithful and true to your God and to your religion, to your families and to yourselves. Jesus of Nazareth has suffered death on the cross for the redemption of the world, and his apostles followed his example for the word of the Lord and testimony of Jesus Christ, and Joseph Smith proved to God, angels, and men that he would and did abide in his covenants unto death, and none of us shall be called to do anything more. We certainly, any of us, would be ashamed to deny the faith, to accommodate our enemies, then meet the prophets and apostles in the spirit world. May God forbid that this should be the case with any of the blood of Ephraim. I wish in this testimony to say that the time is not far distant when the rich men among the Jews will be called upon to use their abundant wealth to gather the dispersed of Judah, and purchase the ancient dwelling places of their fathers in and about Jerusalem, and rebuild the holy city and temple.

For the fulness of the Gentiles has come in, and the Lord has decreed that the Jews should be gathered from all the Gentile nations where they have been driven, into their own land, in fulfillment of the words of Moses their law-giver. And this is the will of your great Eloheim, O house of Judah, and whenever you shall be called upon to perform this work, the God of Israel will help you. You have a great future and destiny before you and you cannot avoid fulfilling it; you are the royal chosen seed, and the God of your father's house has kept you distinct as a nation for eighteen hundred years, under all the oppression of the whole Gentile world. You may not wait until you believe on Jesus of Nazareth, but when you meet with Shiloh your king, you will know him; your destiny is marked out, you cannot avoid it. It is true that after you return and gather your nation home, and rebuild your City and Temple, that the Gentiles may gather together their armies to go against you to battle, to take you a prey and to take you as a spoil, which they will do, for the words of your prophets must be fulfilled; but when this affliction comes, the living God, that led Moses through the wilderness, will deliver you, and your Shiloh will come and stand in your midst and will fight your battles; and you will know him, and the afflictions of the Jews will be at an end, while the destruction of the Gentiles will be so great that it will take the whole house of Israel who are gathered about Jerusalem, seven months to bury the dead of their enemies, and the weapons of war will last them seven years for fuel, so that they need not go to any forest for wood. These are tremendous sayings—who can bear them? Nevertheless they are true, and will be fulfilled, according to the sayings of Ezekiel, Zechariah, and other prophets. Though the heavens and the earth pass away, not one jot or tittle will fall unfulfilled.

I would say to the Lamanites, if I could speak to them understandingly, that you are also a branch of the house of Israel, and chiefly of the house of Joseph, and your forefathers have fallen through the same examples of unbelief and sins, as have the Jews, and you, as their posterity, have wandered in sin and darkness for many generations; and you, like the Jews, have been driven and trampled under the foot of the Gentiles, and put to death through your wars with each other, and with the white man, until you are almost destroyed. But there is still a redemption and salvation for a remnant of you in the latter days. It is time for you to cease shedding each other's blood or making war upon your fellow-man. Cease to destroy one another, learn to cultivate the earth, and raise your food therefrom; call upon the Great Spirit to protect you and deliver you from bondage and darkness, and the Great Spirit will hear you and deliver you, and a remnant of you will again become a delightsome people as your forefathers were when they kept the commandments of God.

Could I speak to the Ten Tribes of Israel, in the north country, I would say, call upon the God of your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that your prophets may come in remembrance before God, that they may hear His voice and no longer stay themselves, but smite the rocks, that the mountains of ice may flow down at their presence. "A highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep;" their enemies shall become a prey unto them. Bring forth your records and rich treasures unto the children of Ephraim, the servants of the Lord in the land of Zion, and the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at your presence, and you shall fall down and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants of God, even the children of Ephraim, and you shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy; behold this is the "blessing of the everlasting God upon the tribes of Israel, and the richer blessing upon the head of Ephraim and his fellows."

These events referred to are but a very limited portion of the revelations of God which are about to be fulfilled upon the heads of this generation. I wish to warn all nations of the judgments of God which are at their doors. Thrones will be cast down, nations will be overturned, anarchy will reign, all legal barriers will be broken down, and the laws will be trampled in the dust. You are about to be visited with war, the sword, famine, pestilence, plague, earthquakes, whirlwinds, tempests, and with the flame of devouring fire; by fire and with the sword will God plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord will be many. The anger of the Lord is kindled and His sword is bathed in heaven, and is about to fall upon Idumea, or the world. And who is able to abide these things? And who will stand when He appeareth? The fig trees are leaving, and the signs of all heaven and earth indicate the coming of the Son of Man. The seals are about to be opened, the plagues to be poured forth. Your rivers and seas will be turned to blood and to gall. And the inhabitants of the earth will die of plagues. And the unbelief of great Babylon, with the whole Christian world, will not make the truths of God without effect. Let the world look, for example, at the ancient cities of the nations. Where are Thebes, Tyre, Sidon, Nineveh, and Babylon the Great, which were built to defy all time, and all power but God Himself? They were laid in the dust and their inhabitants destroyed, when they were ripened in iniquity, and this too, in fulfilment of the word of God unto them through the voices of righteous men, who spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. In like manner was Jerusalem destroyed and the Jews scattered among the Gentiles in fulfilment of the words of Moses and Jesus Christ. Will the Lord any more spare the cities of the Gentiles and Great Babylon than he spared the ancient cities of the Jews? No, verily no. The question may be asked, why these judgments are coming upon the world in the last days? I answer, because of the wickedness of the inhabitants thereof. The very proclamation of the angel of God when he delivered the fulness of the Gospel as revealed in the Revelations of St. John was, "crying with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment is come." And when that proclamation was made to Joseph Smith the Prophet, it was half a century ago, "light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil." The Lord has raised up prophets and apostles who have cried aloud to this generation with the proclamation of the Gospel for half a century, and warned them of the judgments which were to come, and the inhabitants of the earth have rejected this testimony, and shed the blood of the Lord's anointed and persecuted the Saints of God, and the consequence is this: "Darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people," and the Lord is withholding His spirit from the inhabitants of the earth, and the devil is ruling over his own kingdom and wickedness and abominations of every kind have increased a hundred fold within the last few years, until the whole earth is filled with murders, whoredoms, blasphemies, and every crime in the black catalogue that was manifest in the antediluvian world and in Sodom and Gomorrah, until the whole earth groans under its abominations, and the heavens weep, and all eternity is pained, and the angels are waiting the great command to go forth and reap down the earth. This testimony I bear to all nations under heaven, and I know it is true by the inspiration of Almighty God, and the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States bears me out in the opinion that the constitution gives me the privilege of enjoying my belief, and faith and opinion in religion. Therefore the execution of all these tremendous events I leave for the God of heaven, which He most assuredly will bring about. What I have spoken I have spoken, and I excuse not myself, and "though the heavens and the earth pass away, my words will not pass away, but will all be fulfilled," saith the Lord of Hosts.

I subscribe myself an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

WILFORD WOODRUFF.

On his birthday, March 1st, Elder Woodruff was greeted by a hundred women and forty-eight men, who assembled in the Temple for the purpose of aiding him in the ordinances for his kindred dead. For that occasion Mrs. Emily Spencer, and Moses Farnsworth composed in his honor verses containing congratulations and praise. On the 6th of March, accompanied by Erastus Snow, he left St. George at three o'clock in the morning. They went direct to Kanab where they held a two days meeting, and then with William Johnson, and Brigham Y. Duffin he began his pilgrimage and exile among the colonies of Saints and among the Indians of Arizona. The following account of his travels is taken from the Deseret News, Weekly, 1879, page 314:

SUNSET, ARIZONA, May 29th, 1879.

Editors Deseret News:

As I have been traveling for a season as a missionary among the Saints and Lamanites in Arizona, and have taken observations of the country, men and things, I have thought perhaps a few dottings by the way would not be uninteresting to the numerous readers of the News. After crossing over the great Colorado River at Lee's Ferry, and crossing the hog's back, which seemed to be the most difficult and dangerous road for loaded teams to pass over that I ever saw, I indulged in the thought and hope that not many years would pass before a suspension wire bridge would span that river many miles below its present crossing, which would save fifty or one hundred miles of weary travel, and entirely escape the dangerous crossing of that terrible mountain.

We viewed the Colorado River far below the ferry, confined within its narrow bed by solid perpendicular stone walls two thousand feet high, which made the stream look quite diminutive. It being a very dry season throughout the whole country, the wells, tanks, and springs were dry in a great measure. It makes it very difficult for companies to travel this season owing to the want of water for both man and beast. The distance from Willow Springs to Moan Copy is some fifteen miles over a strange country of a barren desert of rocks, sand hills, mounds, gravel beds, and many curious rocks which look as though they were hewn, some of them twenty feet long by twelve to eighteen inches wide, and twelve to eighteen inches thick. The hills are of thin slate in a decayed state, rocks are in every shape of men, women, children, and palaces. The country is without water, grass, or soil, until we arrive at the Moan Copy wash bottoms which contain a large quantity of good land, covered with vegetation and soil suitable for wheat or any cultivated crops. The present settlement, in a fort form, is located on a hill a hundred feet above the cultivated land, in the midst of sand hills. A good spring of water is a hundred feet below the fort, the water is brought into the fort by a hydraulic ram, placed there by John W. Young. This saves much labor, as it avoids the necessity of carrying the water a hundred feet up a steep hill. There is a townsite laid out two miles north of the fort, called Tuba, which stands upon a plat of good soil, with good springs of water. A number of families are building upon the new location. I consider Moan Copy a very important location in many respects for a settlement of the Saints, as an outpost, and especially its connections with the surrounding Lamanites of the Moqui and Navajo tribes. I held many interesting meetings with both the Saints and Lamanites, and with the Indian chiefs at Moan Copy.

The great change which has of late come over all the tribes of Indians in Utah, Arizona, and Mexico, from war to peace, is visible to every observing mind and could have been accomplished only by the power of God. A few years ago neither "Mormon" nor "Gentile" could travel with any safety among the Navajo, Apache, or other Indian tribes of this country; while to-day any white man can travel, either alone or in company, with safety, if he will attend to his own business and not interfere with the Indians. Many of the Lamanites are uniting with the Saints at Moan Copy, Sunset, and other settlements in cultivating the earth, raising wheat, corn, and vegetables, and the brethren are doing what they can to help them. A young man by the name of Polakkah, son of the Chief Cashaby, has a prospect of being a benefit to his tribe. He speaks seven different languages, including good Spanish, and some English. He is raising wheat at Moan Copy, and learning English. He is intelligent, and active, is trying to understand the geography of the earth. The Indian tradition is that there is a new sun every day. But while he was trying to understand that the earth revolved upon its axis and we have but one sun, his faith was tried. While on a visit to San Francisco, he saw the sun sink into the sea and the water put it out. He could not see for a while how it could come out again, but being informed the earth was round, and the sun was hidden from view by the rotation of the earth, he became reconciled.

Brother John W. Young has established a trading store at Moan Copy, and is furnishing the Lamanites goods for their wool and the brethren goods for their labor, which is a benefit for both the Saints and Lamanites. He pays a liberal price for wool and sells goods very reasonably. This brings the Moqui and Navajo tribes, both chiefs and people, to Moan Copy to trade. He has bought some thirty thousand pounds of wool this season, baled it up and sent it to Utah to be manufactured. He laid the corner-stone of a woolen factory at Moan Copy on the first day of May, and it, with its surroundings, was dedicated to the Lord. The walls will be built of stone; plenty of good rock can be obtained within a few rods of the building. The walls were being rapidly erected when I left. If the factory proves successful in its operation, it will be a great blessing to both the Saints and Lamanites.

In company with John W. Young and several other brethren, I left Moan Copy on the 17th of April, to visit the San Francisco Mountain country. We camped at night upon the Little Colorado River, and found the stream rather low. On the 18th we visited the Black Falls, where both the bed of the river and shore were composed of black volcanic rock. A short distance above, the river could easily be taken out, without any dam, to irrigate a good deal of land, supposed to be suitable for cultivation, and the surrounding country is very suitable for an extensive herd ground. On the 19th we nooned at the Grand Falls, the main fall we judged to be about one hundred feet. On the night of the 20th we camped at Turkey Tanks, which are composed of hard volcanic rock; the one we watered at is about one hundred feet by twenty-five wide, and ten feet deep; the water formed from rain and snow, was clear, cold and good; another tank, twice the size was about three hundred yards below. Our barometer gave the altitude six thousand nine hundred feet. The country abounds with deer, antelope, and turkey which drink at these tanks. We saw twenty antelope and heard the turkeys gobble before we were out of bed. We entered on the east side of that noble pine forest, which surrounds the San Francisco Mountain, and spent the night of the 21st at the Flagstaff Springs, eight miles south of San Francisco Springs. We found three men at the Flagstaff Springs, building and farming; they were raising good wheat, potatoes, early corn, squashes, and vegetables without irrigation, their altitude being seven thousand five hundred and seventy-five feet. On the morning of the 22nd, we drove eight miles to San Francisco Springs, which have been purchased by John W. Young, who has erected two buildings and done a good deal of fencing; his house and springs stand at the north end of one of the finest parks, either natural or artificial, I ever saw; it contains about 4,000 acres, without stick, stone, or bush, with a soil as black and rich as the Missouri bottoms. It is shielded on the north, east, and west by the San Francisco mountains and hills, and open to the south, and is surrounded on every side by that immense forest of giant pine timber. I look upon this as one of the finest bodies of pine timber in America. There is no underbrush and the trees stand from 6 inches to 4 feet in diameter, and from 50 to 150 feet in height, and a good deal of it from 20 to 40 feet to the first limb. The whole face of the earth, both forest and parks, is covered with a heavy body of good nutritious bunch grass, even to the very top of the highest volcanic cones, that we ascended to the height of 10,000 feet, and there seems to be range enough to support tens of thousands of horses, cattle, and sheep. We rode our mules on to the top of a cone some 2,000 feet above the park, where we had a view of all the surrounding country, as far as the eye could extend, and we saw the same immense forest interspersed with parks from 100 to 10,000 acres. The altitude of San Francisco spring is 8,040 feet; still the men eight miles south, who had spent several winters there, said they had but little snow and that the stock kept fat all the year round. All this country abounds with game. Brother Young's men had commenced plowing to put in wheat and spring crops. We had to travel, as the road ran in a circle nearly all around the mountain, about 120 miles from Moan Copy, when, if a road could be located on the north side of the mountain to the Little Colorado River, Moan Copy could be reached in half the distance.

I left Moan Copy on the 14th instant to visit Sunset. On my arrival at the Little Colorado River, I found a great change had taken place; the drouth had almost entirely dried up the river for 50 miles; no water running at Black or Grand Falls, only a little found in pockets sufficient to water our horses, some herders having removed their stock from the Black Falls, not getting water for them to drink. Brother August Wilcken accompanied me to Grand Falls, at which place he turned west to the San Francisco mountains. I continued on south until I arrived at Sunset on the evening of the 17th instant, where I was welcomed by Brother Lot Smith and many Saints. I here found plenty of water in the Little Colorado River to irrigate all the cultivated lands and to run to the grist mill. I was agreeably disappointed in the general appearance of the country surrounding Sunset and Brigham City. I could not have formed a correct idea of the country from any description I had ever heard of it. I found these two settlements standing on the borders of the Little Colorado River, surrounded by a large open country, which was covered with the very best of grass for many miles upon every hand. Ten thousand head of horses and cattle could keep fat without going many miles from the settlements, and there is a belt of good thrifty forest of cottonwood timber, a mile wide, for 50 miles up and down the Little Colorado River, and sufficient dry wood strewn along the bottom to supply the settlements with fuel for many years, without cutting any green timber. The cottonwood groves are sufficiently dense to give herds of deer hiding grounds all the year round. On Sunday the 18th, I met the Saints of both settlements, in the dining hall of Sunset, (some 55 feet in length) which was completely filled. I spoke to them during the forenoon and afternoon some two hours and a half; a good spirit prevailed.

The people of these settlements all live in the United Order, and eat at one family table. I stopped with Brother Lot Smith who is president of the Stake. I took my meals with him at the family table, the center table being 45 feet in length and the side table 50 feet, making three rows of persons. Each man has his place at the table with his family with him, the same as though he were with his family in his own house. Prayer is always offered at the table morning and evening before eating, and blessing is then asked. And this is practiced in all places connected with these settlements, at the sheep herd, saw mill and dairies. There seemed to be universal satisfaction among both male and female with this order of things. I conversed with several of the sisters. They preferred it to cooking at home. All fared alike, the president, priest, and people. If any were sick they were nourished. If any man was called on a mission he had no anxiety about his family, knowing they would fare as well as the rest. If any man died his family would have a support as long as they lived with the people, and I must say that I felt in spirit that these settlements, in connection with Orderville, were living in the United Order as near as any people could in mortality, until a better way shall be revealed. I could see many advantages they had above those who were living, each man for himself. They were out of the reach of temptation to quarrel with their neighbors over water ditches, or over their neighbor's stock getting into their crops. They were all interested alike in the use of the water, or the preservation of their crops. All is theirs, stock and crop, as though one man owned the whole, and instead of eating up or wasting their substance, they are daily getting rich and are enabled to assist other settlements to bread and means. The presidents and leaders are as hard laboring men as any in the settlements, and, until I can learn a better way, I feel to say with every sentiment of my heart to Orderville, Sunset, Brigham City, Pleasant Valley, and every other settlement living in the Order, go ahead and God bless you; and, as President Young instructed the Saints who came to form these settlements, to get as near the United Order as they could; and as President Taylor and the Apostles advocate the same principle, I hope that all the priesthood will sustain, by their prayers, faith and influence, those who are striving to live in this United Order, until something more perfect shall be revealed unto us. It appears to me that the further we withdraw from this union into individuality of gardens, lots, orchards, cows, pigs, and chickens, the further we withdraw from the United Order, and the more we open the door for selfishness, temptation, and fault-finding with each other, the same as before we attempted to unite, and would open a door to give each man an excuse to spend his time in attending to his individual affairs, instead of laboring for the general good of all.

The Sunset settlement consists of 25 families, 24 men, 30 women, 66 children; total 120 souls. They have 13 men at work on the farm; they have put in 200 acres of wheat, 100 of corn, 15 of cane, 15 acres of lucern, and 5 of other vegetables, besides 25 acres of wheat for the Lamanites. They have 65 brood mares, 30 yearlings, 21 young colts, and 15 horses; also 30 oxen, 160 milk cows, 257 dry stock, not including this year's calves; also 1,200 sheep, and 500 lambs. Brigham City consists of 40 families, 38 men, 40 women, 122 children; total souls, 200. They have ten men on the farm, who have put in 155 acres of wheat, 50 of corn, 20 of cane, 10 of lucern, 5 of oats, 5 of potatoes, 18 of orchard, and 15 of other vegetables. They have 25 brood mares, 7 colts, 15 horses; also 200 cows, 150 calves, 70 oxen, 280 young stock; also 700 sheep, and 500 lambs. They have 40 wagons, a blacksmith and wagon maker. These settlements have a good water grist mill, carding machine, steam sawmill, and a good pottery, all in successful operation.

On the 22nd, I visited the sheep herd at McNeil Springs, in the pine and oak forests, 32 miles from Sunset. The house stands upon the bench, but the spring is in a deep gorge, so steep it is difficult for men to bring water up to the house. The water is guided into several large pine troughs, where 1,000 sheep drink daily. The wild cats are so numerous that it is difficult to guard the lambs by night from cats. We visited Pleasant Valley on the 23rd. This is the location of the dairy of the various settlements in the United Order, and is one of the finest valleys in Arizona. It is five miles in length, and three miles in breadth, covered with the best of grass, except a lake of fresh water which covers many acres, where the horses, cows, oxen, deer, antelope, and turkeys come down to drink. I was informed the deer and antelope came into the valley daily to drink, at times as many as a hundred antelope in a drove, and that this lake, both fall and spring, was covered with thousands of ducks and geese, the ducks remaining throughout the year. Orvil E. Bates presides over this settlement and is directing the cheese and butter making department. I took a horse-back ride in the evening with Brother Bates to take a view of the country. We saw 15 deer, 17 antelopes, and 5 gobbler turkeys during the day.

On the 24th, we held a meeting at Pleasant Valley with the Saints. Brother Lot Smith, George Lake, and myself addressed the people. A good spirit prevailed. At the close of the meeting we drove 10 miles to the United Order sawmill. We saw a dozen turkeys on the road. This steam sawmill is one used at Trumbull, and has a capacity of sawing 10,000 feet of lumber daily; stands in the midst of that vast pine and oak forest, some 45 miles south of San Francisco Mountain. I saw groves of white oak from the size of hoop poles to three feet in diameter and 50 feet in height.

On Sunday, 25th, we held a meeting forenoon and afternoon, with the people at the mill. I spoke about one hour and a half, followed by Brothers Lot Smith, L. H. Savage, O. E. Bates, and W. C. McLellan; a good spirit prevailed.

On the 26th, after killing and dressing a large antelope, and taking a portion of the meat with us, we left our friends at the mill and returned to Sunset on the eve of the 27th.

I have had an interview with Brother Lewellyn Harris concerning his administrations among the Lamanites sick with the small-pox. He confirms as truth all that was published in the Deseret News concerning it.

WILFORD WOODRUFF.

On the 24th of June with Lot Smith and others he made a journey to a number of settlements in that district of the country. The 25th found him at Woodruff, a small town on the Little Colorado, that had been named in his honor. The people of the town represented in some manner the persistency that characterized the life of Apostle Woodruff. An existence along the Little Colorado, especially when it depends upon the permanence of dams constructed on its quicksands, is both precarious and difficult.

Elder Woodruff always had the happy faculty of adjusting himself to the conditions of people wherever he was. He was as much at home on the farm as in the pulpit or in the temple. He helped the brethren gather their crops and labored in the fields.

During the latter part of July, Elder Woodruff went to Snowflake where, with President Jesse M. Smith, he took up his labors among the Saints. While there, during the early part of August, he accepted an invitation to go on a deer hunt with Pelone, an Apache chief. On this occasion, though fond of hunting, he was much more interested in preaching the gospel to the chief and other Indians than he was in pursuing the chase. He says that when they were ready, the Indian painted himself with white clay, put on a striped shirt resembling the color of an antelope. The Indian likewise made his limbs take on the same striped appearance. On his head he put artificial horns, thus making himself a decoy to antelope. Pelone and the Indians with him were told about the Book of Mormon and the promises of the Lord respecting their forefathers.

Of these visits Elder Woodruff related a circumstance as follows: "Pelone gave three young Mormon Elders the strongest rebuke I ever heard from an Indian. The boys were smoking and asked Pelone to smoke with them. He looked them sternly in the face and said: 'No, the Great Spirit has told me that if I would not smoke, nor drink whiskey, I should live a long time, but if I did, I should live but a short time.' I then said to the boys, you should take that rebuke to heart, and never again set such an example before an Indian."

Two days later Elder Woodruff had another talk with Pelone and one Pedro. The latter was also an Apache chief, the two being the principal chiefs of the tribe. The former had related to Pedro all that Brother Woodruff had taught him and appeared much interested in the message.

From Snowflake Apostle Woodruff made his way to St. John, from which place with Ammon Tenney he paid a visit to the Zunis and other Indian tribes, an account of which is given in a communication of September 15th, 1879, to President John Taylor, as follows:

SUNSET, APACHE CO., ARIZONA, Sept. 15th, 1879.

President John Taylor and Council:

DEAR BRETHREN:—I arrived on Saturday night, the 13th inst., all well and in good spirits and found Brother Lake, of Brigham City, and Brother Bates, of Pleasant Valley, very sick. They had been to the Verde, baptizing some and administering to the sick. Brother Lake has been looked upon as dangerous, but was some better yesterday.

In my short communication of the 2nd inst., I promised to give a fuller account of my visit to the Isletas, which I will now endeavor to do. I view my visit among the Nephites one of the most interesting missions of my life, although short. I say Nephites because if there are any Nephites on this continent we have found them among the Zunis, Lagumas, and Isletas, for they are a different race of people altogether from the Lamanites. I class the Navajoe, Moquis, and Apaches with the Lamanites, although they are in advance of many Indian tribes of America. I class the Zunis, Lagumas, and Isletas among the Nephites. (See Sec. 3, verse 17, Doc. and Cov.) The Zunis are in advance of the Navajoes, Apaches, or of any other Lamanites. The Lagumas are much above the Zunis, and the Isletas are far above them all in wealth, in beauty, cleanliness, and order of their homes and persons, the adornment of their dwellings, their industry and indefatigable labors, and in their virtue, and in the purity of their national blood. Their bearing and dignity in their intercourse with strangers, and, above all else, the expansion of their minds and their capacity to receive any principle of the Gospel, such as endowments or sealing powers, fully equal the minds of any of the Anglo Saxon race. While I have been standing in the midst of that noble-minded people, teaching them the gospel, I could not make myself believe I was standing in the presence of American Indians or Lamanites, neither was I. The Isletas of which I speak is a village twelve miles below Albuquerque, on the Rio Del Norte, containing 3,000 souls that stand at the head of this class of men that I call the Nephites. They occupy forty villages, containing a population of 32,000, speaking sixteen distinct languages, but nearly all good Spanish scholars. I look upon this as a great field of missionary labor for some forty good, faithful "Mormon" elders, who should be able to speak the Spanish; and I hope next conference will call some of them, at least, into the field. I visited this people, located in their homes in company with Brother Ammon M. Tenney, who had visited most of them before, and I think has done much good in opening doors among them. He had baptized 115 of the Zunis on a former mission. My journey and visit with him was a visit of observation, and I was amply rewarded. In what way, I do not know, but in almost every village I visited, they were looking for me. I can only make a brief outline from my journal of our journey. On the 19th of August, we entered the Zuni village, containing about 3,000 souls. The village stood on a piece of elevated ground; many buildings were three stories high, and the upper stories were entered by ladders at the top. There had been a heavy struggle in this village between the Catholics and Mormon Zunis. The priests had done all they could to lie about the Mormons and had drawn away a few who had been baptized, but others remained firm. I went through the old Catholic cathedral in the village; it looked as though it were 500 years old. It had two bells hanging in the tower and over the pulpit was some of the finest carved work in wood I ever saw, representing Christ, the apostles, and angels. I went all through the village and, for the first time in my life, I had a view of the white Indians called Albinos. Their hair, face, and limbs were nearly as white as milk, much whiter than any Americans. I met with many who had been baptized and they were very glad to see me. They had 2,000 acres of corn, looking well without irrigation. On the day following, we visited their village at their farm called Fish Springs. I was here introduced to Brother Juan Bautista (John Baptist), the first man baptized in the Zuni nation by A. M. Tenney. His son's wife was the most handsome woman I ever saw of the Indian race; had a beautiful child, nearly white. I went through their wheat fields, which they were cutting with sickles. We visited several ruins of the ancient inhabitants; some of the outside walls of stone were standing some eight feet high. On Sunday evening, the 25th, we held a meeting in a village of the Lagumas, called Mosita Negra. We had an interesting talk with the Governor of the place (Jose Carido), and the spiritual advisor (Lorenzo Coreo) and both wanted a meeting. They called the people together, men, women, and children. We opened by singing and prayer, and Brother Tenney spoke to them in Spanish thirty minutes. I spoke a short time. Brother Tenney interpreted and we dismissed, thinking we had kept them long enough. As soon as we dismissed, a Nephite arose, full of the spirit of the Lord, and said: 'Friends, why do you dismiss us and leave us in this way. This is the first time we have heard of our forefathers and the gospel, and the things we have looked for from the traditions of our fathers. If our wives and children are weary, let them go home; we want to hear more. We want you to talk all night, do not leave us so.' This speech raised me to my feet and the next hour was one of the best meetings we had. We all felt inspired, missionaries, Nephite men, women, and children. I spoke and Brother Tenney interpreted. I never felt the want of tongues more than on this occasion. I taught the things of the Kingdom of God and found hearts capable of receiving it. All were deeply interested and the seeds we had sown in the hearts of that people will bring forth fruit. At the close of the meeting, the man who spoke in the meeting came to me and said, 'When you return, drive to my home and all your wants will be supplied,' which we did and held another meeting on the Sunday following. We should have baptized him, the Governor, and many others, I think, but the Governor who had followed us, as did the spiritual advisor, some sixty miles to Isletas, had not returned. The people did not wish to take any steps until their Governor was with them. On the following morning, my carriage was surrounded by the Governor and people that we had talked to the night before. Some of them took breakfast with us and I had to talk to them on the principles of the gospel and their record and signs of the times, until I left; and the leading men of the village followed us sixty miles to Isletas and stopped with us most of the time we were there. On the morning of the 26th of August, we drove through Frisco, crossed the Rio Del Norte, which we found very low, and entered Albuquerque, containing about 3,000 inhabitants, Jews, Gentiles, Americans, and Mexicans. I was introduced to Judge Parks, the U. S. District Judge of that District, from Illinois. I went through the city or town. It is quite a place of business. I went through the Catholic cathedral accompanied by an Italian padre, or priest. He took great pains to show us everything in it, robes of the priests and deacons; some robes woven from pure gold thread that cost $1,000.00. There was much more wealth than I would have looked for in as obscure a place as Albuquerque. We spent the day in the place and left in the evening and camped five miles below on the banks of the river. On the 27th of August, we entered the village of Isletas (Ysleta), being the day before the great annual feast of this people. Brother Ammon M. Tenney had visited this people three years ago and had made friends in the place. We called upon an old patriarch that had received him before. His name was Juan Reylocero (John King). He was glad to receive us. He furnished us with mutton, fruit, and anything we needed. He was one of the leading spirits, was one of the most influential men in the village, and was over eighty years of age; but by his labor and activity he did not appear more than seventy. It should be understood that the Catholic power has had dominion for centuries over most of the American tribes. This is the case with all these tribes, as well as others, and the priests who now occupy their villages are mostly French or Italian. The priests who dwell in Isletas have had a hard contest with the old patriarch, because he had received the Mormons and their religion. He told the priest that he had his own rights and agency and no men should take his rights or religion from him; and they had not spoken to each other for two years. This spirit is manifest through all the tribes when the gospel is preached, and the Lamanites and Nephites throughout all the land are beginning to be weary of the Catholic priests and their religion. The inhabitants of Isletas stand at the head of these 32,000 Nephites; all the other 40 villages come to them for counsel. They have their own laws, police courts, and judgment seat. They are very rich. The man we stopped with possessed 9,000 sheep, 100 brood mares and horses, 100 mules and asses, 500 cows and oxen, a ranch worth $8,000.00, and $25,000 of other wealth. He rents many houses in the city, and he is a sample of many of the Isletas nation. They allow no white man or Mexican to mix with them in their blood; all their marriages are in their own tribe. Our friend (Reylocero) said the Americans had called them wild men. If they were wild, they were honest and virtuous. It was very seldom that a case of seduction of a wife or daughter was known in their tribes. Whenever such a case did occur, the penalty of death was executed and had been for centuries, until civilization was introduced by Americans, who had introduced seduction and corruption wherever they had a chance, and now, if a man were put to death for seduction, the civilization of the day would kill his slayer. In fact they were so much afraid of white men coming in contact with their women, that Brothers Tenney and Robert H. Smith, of the 15th Ward, Salt Lake City, three years ago, came nearly starving to death before they got thoroughly acquainted with them. They were not willing for these brethren to go into the presence of their women; but after the old patriarch had reached full confidence in Brother Tenney, he put his grand-daughter (a very handsome young woman) in his charge, as he was going away for a season, and a young Mexican wished to court her, and the old gentleman did not wish him to marry her. And as the people in that village had full confidence in him, on our arrival we were kindly received and entertained by all we called upon. I look upon the Isletas as the most industrious and hard laboring people of any I ever met (the Latter-day Saints not excepted). This Nephite village has a field of corn ten miles in length and one in width. It lies north and south of their village, and is irrigated. The corn is quite as good as any I ever saw in Utah, and perfectly clean; not a weed could be found in a hundred acres. They have also twenty-one vineyards bordering on their city and 1,000 vines to each vineyard, some of them 60 years of age, all kept perfectly clean and loaded with the finest of fruit, and as heavy a crop as I ever saw in St. George. The vines stand from two to four feet in height and, in the fall of the year, each vine has a mound of earth formed around it, until it is covered out of sight. In the spring it is uncovered and the earth leveled. This is an immense work. They have also many apple, pear, and peach orchards, all ripe as well as the grapes. Isletas is occupied only by the Nephites themselves. There are no Mexicans or white men. The houses generally are made of adobe, cement, or concrete, and plastered. The outside walls are as white as snow, and the floors are made of mortar or plaster, very smooth and many of them very neatly carpeted. We saw some as handsome women and girls as could be found in America, barring their dark complexions. There is one practice that exceeds that of any civilized city on the globe that I ever heard of. No man, woman, or child is allowed to sweep a particle of dirt or dust from their floors into the door yards or streets, under penalty of a fine. It all has to be gathered in cloths or baskets and carried to mounds which are located in different parts of the city. The room we occupied was in the center of the town and the mound formed from the sweepings of the floors in that part of the town measured 150 yards at the base and some thirty feet high, which had probably been 100 years in collecting, for they did not appear to cart it away. I found in Isletas and in other villages of the Nephites the same kind of crockery and stone ware painted in all its brilliant colors that we find in the remains of their ancient cities, or in ruins of the ancient inhabitants. All of their water jugs and main crockery are of this material, for they still hold the art of making and painting it. We visited quite a number of the families in the village and were kindly entertained. Among others, we visited Mrs. Pascual Avieta, a Nephite lady, I should judge 50 years of age, a large portly woman, with a large, fine home. Her floors were neatly carpeted, and settees were covered with Navajoe blankets, worth $15 each. She was neatly dressed. I was introduced to her by Brother Tenney and to her daughters and sons. She received me and treated me with all the cordiality that any refined lady could, and presided over her household with all the dignity and grace of a Martha Washington. When her daughters were introduced to me, after bowing and shaking hands, they very reservedly and modestly retired across the room, sat down upon a settee and listened to what was said in silence. The matron sat down beside me and conversed with great freedom. While the family could speak good Spanish, her son, a fine young man of 20, could speak good English, which was a God send to me, and I thoroughly improved it by preaching the Gospel of Christ and blessings of the Kingdom of God to him, which he gladly received and promised to deliver the same to his father and mother. The matron invited us into her pear, peach, and apple orchard, and grape vineyard where fruit was ripe. We feasted to our satisfaction, and repeated by invitation the same ceremony each day while in Isletas. The feast was on the 27th of August. There were hundreds of Mexicans from all the surrounding country gathered. The Mexican women and girls had their long trails. Most all the drinking, gambling, and fighting, which lasted all night, were done by the Mexicans, while the Isletas were in their homes with doors locked at an early hour. The Governor and leading men of Mosita Negra, where we preached, were with us and did not take part in the Mexican carousal.

Thus, dear brethren, I have given you an outline, merely, of the field of labor which I consider the God of Israel has opened unto us, and which I consider the revelations of God require us to perform. I think there is element sufficient for forty good, faithful elders. There is need for a goodly number of elders who can speak the Spanish language, or who will be able to learn it. I have already sent Brother Taylor a small list of names, including the Indian missionaries that are already in this country, as far as I can remember them, and if there are any in St. George or southern Utah, or northern, who can speak the Spanish, or who will learn it, I would like Brother Taylor to consider them at the October Conference.

I am happy to be able to state that most of the settlements I have visited of the Saints have been blessed with fair crops of grain, notwithstanding the dry season. They were just finishing threshing as I left Snowflake. They will have over 3,000 bushels of grain, mostly wheat, and I am confident they will have over 4,000 bushels of wheat at Sunset.

I have not written anything for publication concerning my journey to Lamanites or Nephites of late, thinking it would not be wisdom to publish anything about our labors among the American Indians under the present state of excitement on Mormonism. I forwarded a list of names in my other communication, as missionaries. I forward a few more in this communication and those I send from here are mostly persons who have given in their names and are willing to engage in the mission. Some incidents occurred on our mission which were interesting to me and showed that the Lord was at work with and for us, to open the way for the introduction of the gospel among this branch of the house of Israel. But I have already lengthened this communication much more than I intended at the commencement. I learned of the release of the Apostles from prison from the "News," which has given joy to all the faithful Saints of the land. The devil is making a hard struggle to stop the building of temples, and the work of God, and the wicked are helping him, but, brethren, God reigns and will stand by you to the end. The lawyers, judges, and the nation are hastening to their doom as fast as time will permit, and they are sure of their fate. That God may bless you and give you the victory, is the earnest prayer of

Your brother in the gospel,

WILFORD WOODRUFF.

Brother Woodruff here in his journal, referring to his epistle in support of Plural Marriage, said: "I am composed and tranquil. I am in the hands of God, so is the United States Government. I rejoice in that epistle and in the testimony which I have borne to all the world. God will back up my testimony and the testimony of the righteous though the heaven and earth shall pass away." During those days in Arizona, away from the turmoil and busy scenes of his former active life he had opportunity to give himself up to the inner workings of the human soul. It was not only an opportunity to rest, but it was an abandonment to the workings of the spirit of God in the wilderness of Arizona, from which he gave out some of the most inspiring utterances of his life.

Nor was his life there without some inconveniences and indeed some hardships. In November of that year he traveled with Lot Smith through the mountains where the snow lay a foot deep. The weather was very cold and the wind was piercing. They cut down pine limbs to make a shield against the cold blast, and made their bed upon the earth. The weather was so cold that night that Elder Smith, fearing his horses might freeze, arose and brought them to a big fire which they kept ablaze most of the night. It was on that journey that he records a visit of President Young and Elder Orson Hyde to him in a dream. He asked President Young if he would not address the Saints, and he answered, No, saying that he had done his talking in the flesh and that work was now left for Elder Woodruff and others to do. From the dream he quotes President Young as saying: "Tell the people to get the spirit of the Lord and keep it with them."

It was also at that time that he employed his leisure moments in reading McCabe's History of the World. He also helped the brethren in the fields, dressed buckskin, and did everything that came in his reach. The last days of 1879 were passed with John W. Young, and other brethren. They visited the different wards, held conferences, and gave encouragement to the people. In a section of country where material advantages were not the best, what the people lacked in worldly advantages they really enjoyed in spiritual blessings.