they realized that they had a contest on their hands. Young got into trouble with the laboring men at this time. He had contracts for building a part of the Pacific Railroad, which were sublet at a profit.
An attempt by him to bring about a reduction of wages gave the magazine an opportunity to plead the laborers" cause which it gladly embraced.*
* Harpers Magazine, Vol. XLIII, p. 605.
In the summer of 1869 Alexander and David Hyrum Smith, sons of the prophet, visited Salt Lake City in the interest of the Reorganized Church. Many of Young"s followers still looked on the sons of the prophet as their father"s rightful successor to the leadership of the Church, as Young at Nauvoo had promised that Joseph III should be.
But these sons now found that, even to be acknowledged as members of Brigham"s fold, they must accept baptism at the hands of one of his elders, and acknowledge the "revelation" concerning polygamy as coming from G.o.d. They had not come with that intent. But they called on Young and discussed with him the injection of polygamy into the church doctrines. Young finally told them that they possessed, not the spirit of their father, but of their mother Emma, whom Young characterized as "a liar, yes, the d.a.m.nedest liar that lived," declaring that she tried to poison the prophet * He refused to them the use of the Tabernacle, but they spoke in private houses and, through the influence of the Walker brothers, secured Independence Hall. The Brighamites, using a son of Hyrum Smith as their mouthpiece,** took pains that a goodly number of polygamists should attend the Independence Hall meetings, and interruptions of the speakers turned the gatherings into something like personal wrangles.
* For Alexander Smith"s report, see True Latter-Day Saints"
Herald, Vol. XVI, pp. 85-86.
** Hyrum"s widow went to Salt lake City, and died there in September, 1852, at the house of H. C. Kimball, who had taken care of her.
The presence of the prophet"s sons gave the leaders of "The Reformation"
an opportunity to aim a thrust at what was then generally understood to be one of Brigham Young"s ambitions, namely, the handing down of the Presidency of the church to his oldest son; and an article in their magazine presented the matter in this light: "If we know the true feeling of our brethren, it is that they never intend Joseph Smith"s nor any other man"s son to preside over them, simply because of their sonship. The principle of heirship has cursed the world for ages, and with our brethren we expect to fight it till, with every other relic of tyranny, it is trodden under foot." Young accepted this challenge, and at once ordered Harrison and two other elders in affiliation with him to depart on missions. They disobeyed the order.
G.o.dbe and Harrison told their friends in Utah that they had learned from the spirits who visited them in New York that the release of the people of the territory from the despotism of the church could come only through the development of the mines. So determined was the opposition of Young"s priesthood to this development that its open advocacy in the magazine was the cause of more serious discussion than that given to any of the other subjects treated. As "The Reformation" did not then embrace more than a dozen members, the courage necessary to defy the church on such a question was not to be belittled. Just at that time came the visit of the Illinois party and of Vice President Colfax, and the latter was made acquainted with their plans and gave them encouragement. Ten days later the magazine, in an article on "The True Development of the Territory," openly advised paying more attention to mining. Young immediately called together the "School of the Prophets." This was an organization inst.i.tuted in Utah, with the professed object of discussing doctrinal questions, having the "revelations" of the prophet elucidated by his colleagues, etc. It was not open to all church members, the "scholars" attending by invitation, and it soon became an organization under Young"s direction which took cognizance of the secular doings of the people, exercising an espionage over them. The school is no longer maintained. Before this school Young denounced the "Reformers" in his most scathing terms, going so far as to intimate that his rule was itself in danger. Consequently the leaders of the "New Movement" were notified to appear before the High Council for a hearing.
When this hearing occurred, Young managed that G.o.dbe and Harrison should be the only persons on trial. Both of them defied him to his face, denying his "right to dictate to them in all things spiritual and temporal,"--this was the question put to them,--and protesting against his rule. They also read a set of resolutions giving an outline of their intended movements. They were at once excommunicated, and the only elder, Eli B. Kelsey, who voted against this action was immediately punished in the same way. Kelsey was not granted even the perfunctory hearing that was customarily allowed in such cases, and he was "turned over to the devil," instead of being consigned by the usual formula "to the buffetings of Satan."
But this did not silence the "Reformers." Their lives were considered in danger by their acquaintances, and the a.s.sa.s.sination of the most prominent of them was antic.i.p.ated;* but they went straight ahead on the lines they had proclaimed. Their first public meetings were held on Sunday, December 19, 1869. The knowledge of the fact that they claimed to act by direct and recent revelation gave them no small advantage with a people whose belief rested on such manifestations of the divine will, and they had crowded audiences. The services were continued every Sunday, and on the evening of one week day; the magazine went on with its work, and they were the founders of the Salt Lake Tribune which later, as a secular journal, has led the Gentile press in Utah.
* "In August my husband sent a respectful and kindly letter to the Bishop of our ward, stating that he had no faith in Brigham"s claim to an Infallible Priesthood; and that he considered that he ought to be cut off from the church. I added a postscript stating that I wished to share my husband"s fate. A little after ten o"clock, on the Sat.u.r.day night succeeding our withdrawal from the church, we were returning home together.. . when we suddenly saw four men come out from under some trees at a little distance from us.... As soon as they approached, they seized hold of my husband"s arms, one on each side, and held him firmly, thus rendering him almost powerless. They were all masked.... In an instant I saw them raise their arms, as if taking aim, and for one brief second I thought that our end had surely come, and that we, like so many obnoxious persons before us, were about to be murdered for the great sin of apostasy. This I firmly believe would have been my husband"s fate if I had not chanced to be with him or had I run away.... The wretches, although otherwise well armed, were not holding revolvers in their hands as I at first supposed. They were furnished with huge garden syringes, charged with the most disgusting filth. My hair, bonnet, face, clothes, person--every inch of my body, every shred I wore--were in an instant saturated, and my husband and myself stood there reeking from head to foot. The villains, when they had perpetrated this disgusting and brutal outrage, turned and fled."--Mrs. Stenhouse, "Tell it All," pp. 578-581.
But the attempt to establish a reformed Mormonism did not succeed, and the organization gradually disappeared. One of the surviving leaders said to me (in October, 1901): "My parents had believed in Mormonism, and I believed in the Mormon prophet and the doctrines set forth in his revelations. We hoped to purify the Mormon church, eradicating evils that had annexed themselves to it in later years. But our study of the question showed us that the Mormon faith rested on no substantial basis, and we became believers in transcendentalism." Mr. G.o.dbe and Mr.
Lawrence still reside in Utah. The former has made and lost more than one fortune in the mines. The Mormon historian Whitney says of the leaders in this attempted reform: "These men were all reputable and respected members of the community. Naught against their morality or general uprightness of character was known or advanced."* Stenhouse, writing three years before Young"s death, said:--
* Whitney"s "History of Utah," Vol. II, p. 332.
"But for the boldness of the Reformers, Utah to-day would not have been what it is. Inspired by their example, the people who have listened to them disregarded the teachings of the priesthood against trading with or purchasing of the Gentiles. The spell was broken, and, as in all such like experience, the other extreme was for a time threatened. Walker Brothers regained their lost trade.... Reference could be made to elders, some of whom had to steal away from Utah, for fear of violent hands being laid upon them had their intended departure been made known, who are to-day wealthy and respected gentlemen in the highest walks of life, both in the United States and in Europe."
** For accounts of "The Reformation" by leaders in it, see Chap. 53 of Stenhouse"s "Rocky Mountain Saints," and Tullidge"s article, Harper"s Magazine, Vol. XLIII, p. 602.
CHAPTER XXI. -- THE LAST YEARS OF BRIGHAM YOUNG
Governor Doty died in June, 1865, without coming in open conflict with Young, and was succeeded by Charles Durkee, a native of Vermont, but appointed from Wisconsin, which state he had represented in the United States Senate. He resigned in 1869, and was succeeded by J. Wilson Shaffer of Illinois, appointed by President Grant at the request of Secretary of War Rawlins, who, in a visit to the territory in 1868, concluded that its welfare required a governor who would a.s.sert his authority. Secretary S. A. Mann, as acting governor, had, just before Shaffer"s arrival, signed a female suffrage bill pa.s.sed by the territorial legislature. This gave offence to the new governor, and Mann was at once succeeded by Professor V. H. Vaughn of the University of Alabama, and Chief Justice C. C. Wilson (who had succeeded t.i.tus) by James B. McKean. The latter was a native of Rensselaer County, New York; had been county judge of Saratoga County from 1854 to 1858, a member of the 36th and 37th Congresses, and colonel of the 72nd New York Volunteers.
Governor Shaffer"s first important act was to issue a proclamation forbidding all drills and gatherings of the militia of the territory (which meant the Nauvoo Legion), except by the order of himself or the United States marshal. Wells, signing himself "Lieutenant General," sent the governor a written request for the suspension of this order. The governor, in reply, reminded Wells that the only "Lieutenant General"
recognized by law was then Philip H. Sheridan, and declined to a.s.sist him in a course which "would aid you and your turbulent a.s.sociates to further convince your followers that you and your a.s.sociates are more powerful than the federal government." Thus practically disappeared this famous Mormon military organization.
Governor Shaffer was ill when he reached Utah, and he died a few days after his reply to Wells was written, Secretary Vaughn succeeding him until the arrival of G. A. Black, the new secretary, who then became acting governor pending the arrival of George L. Woods, an ex-governor of Oregon, who was next appointed to the executive office.
As soon as the new federal judges, who were men of high personal character, took their seats, they decided that the United States marshal, and not the territorial marshal, was the proper person to impanel the juries in the federal courts, and that the attorney general appointed by the President under the Territorial Act, and not the one elected under that act, should prosecute indictments found in the federal courts. The chief justice also filled a vacancy in the office of federal attorney. The territorial legislature of 1870, accordingly, made no appropriation for the expenses of the courts; and the chief justice, in dismissing the grand and pet.i.t juries on this account, explained to them that he had heard one of the high priesthood question the right of Congress even to pa.s.s the Territorial Act.
In September, 1871, the United States marshal summoned a grand jury from nine counties (twenty-three jurors and seventeen talesmen) of whom only seven were Mormons. All the latter, examined on their voir dire, declared that they believed that polygamy was a revelation to the church, and that they would obey the revelation rather than the law, and all were successfully challenged. This grand jury, early in October, found indictments against Brigham Young, "General" Wells, G. Q. Cannon, and others under a territorial statute directed against lewdness and improper cohabitation. This action caused intense excitement in the Mormon capital. Prosecutor Baskin was quoted as saying that the troops at Camp Douglas would be used to enforce the warrant for Young"s arrest if necessary, and the possible outcome has been thus portrayed by the Mormon historian:--"It was well known that he [Young] had often declared that he never would give himself up to be murdered as his predecessor, the Prophet Joseph, and his brother Hyrum had been, while in the hands of the law, and under the sacred pledge of the state for their safety; and, ere this could have been repeated, ten thousand Mormon Elders would have gone into the jaws of death with Brigham Young. In a few hours the suspended Nauvoo Legion would have been in arms."*
* Tullidge"s "History of Salt Lake City," p. 527.
The warrant was served on Young at his house by the United States marshal, and, as Young was ill, a deputy was left in charge of him. On October 9 Young appeared in court with the leading men of the church, and a motion to quash the indictment was made before the chief justice and denied.
The same grand jury on October 28 found indictments for murder against D. H. Wells, W. H. Kimball, and Hosea Stout for alleged responsibility for the killing of Richard Yates during the "war" of 1857. The fact that the man was killed was not disputed; his brains were knocked out with an axe as he was sleeping by the side of two Mormon guards.* The defence was that he died the death of a spy. Wells was admitted to bail in $50,000, and the other two men were placed under guard at Camp Douglas.
Indictments were also found against Brigham Young, W. A. Hickman, O.
P. Rockwell, G. D. Grant, and Simon Dutton for the murder of one of the Aikin party at Warm Springs. They were all admitted to bail.
* Hickman tells the story in his "Brigham"s Destroying Angel," p.
122.
When the case against Young, on the charge of improper cohabitation, was called on November 20, his counsel announced that he had gone South for his health, as was his custom in winter, and the prosecution thereupon claimed that his bail was forfeited. Two adjournments were granted at the request of his counsel. On January 3 Young appeared in court, and his counsel urged that he be admitted to bail, pleading his age and ill health. The judge refused this request, but said that the marshal could, if he desired, detain the prisoner in one of Young"s own houses. This course was taken, and he remained under detention until released by the decision of the United States Supreme Court.
In April, 1872, that court decided that the territorial jury law of Utah, in force since 1859, had received the implied approval of Congress; that the duties of the attorney and marshal appointed by the President under the Territorial Act "have exclusive relation to cases arising under the laws and const.i.tution of the United States," and "the making up of the jury list and all matters connected with the designation of jurors are subject to the regulation of territorial law."* This was a great victory for the Mormons.
* Chilton vs. Englebrech, 13 Wallace, p. 434.
In October, 1873, the United States Supreme Court rendered its decision in the case of "Snow vs. The United States" on the appeal from Chief Justice McKean"s ruling about the authority of the prosecuting officers.
It overruled the chief justice, confining the duties of the attorney appointed by the President to cases in which the federal government was concerned, concluding that "in any event, no great inconvenience can arise, because the entire matter is subject to the control and regulation of Congress." *
* Wallace"s "Reports," Vol. XVIII, p. 317.
The following comments, from three different sources, will show the reader how many influences were then shaping the control of authority in Utah:--"At about this time [December, 1871] a change came in the action of the Department of justice in these Utah prosecutions, and fair-minded men of the nation demanded of the United States Government that it should stop the disgraceful and illegal proceedings of Judge McKean"s court. The influence of Senator Morton was probably the first and most potent brought to bear in this matter, and immediately thereafter Senator Lyman Trumbull threw the weight of his name and statesmanship in the same direction, which resulted in Baskin and Maxwell being superseded,... and finally resulted in the setting aside of two years of McKean"s doings as illegal by the august decision of the Supreme Court."--Tullidge, "History of Salt Lake City," p. 547.
"The Attorney for the Mormons labored a.s.siduously at Washington, and, contrary to the usual custom in the Supreme Court, the forthcoming decision had been whispered to some grateful ears. The Mormon anniversary conference beginning on the sixth of April was continued over without adjournment awaiting that decision."--"Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 688.
"Thus stood affairs during the winter of 1870-71. The Gentiles had the courts, the Mormons had the money. In the spring Nevada came over to run Utah. Hon. Thomas Fitch of that state had been defeated in his second race for Congress; so he came to Utah as Attorney for the Mormons.
Senator Stewart and other Nevada politicians made heavy investments in Utah mines; litigation multiplied as to mining t.i.tles, and Judge McKean did not rule to suit Utah.... The great Emma mine, worth two or three millions, became a power in our judicial embroglio. The Chief Justice, in various rulings, favored the present occupants. Nevada called upon Senator Stewart, who agreed to go straight to Long Branch and see that McKean was removed. But Ulysses the Silent... promptly made reply that if Judge McKean had committed no greater fault than to revise a little Nevada law, he was not altogether unpardonable."--Beadle, "Polygamy," p.
429.
The Supreme Court decisions left the federal courts in Utah practically powerless, and President Grant understood this. On February 14, 1873, he sent a special message to Congress, saying that he considered it necessary, in order to maintain the supremacy of the laws of the United States, "to provide that the selection of grand and pet.i.t jurors for the district courts [of Utah], if not put under the control of federal officers, shall be placed in the hands of persons entirely independent of those who are determined not to enforce any act of Congress obnoxious to them, and also to pa.s.s some act which shall deprive the probate courts, or any court created by the territorial legislature, of any power to interfere with or impede the action of the courts held by the United States judges."
In line with this recommendation Senator Frelinghuysen had introduced a bill in the Senate early in February, which the Senate speedily pa.s.sed, the Democrats and Schurz, Carpenter, and Trumbull voting against it.
Mormon influence fought it with desperation in the House, and in the closing hours of the session had it laid aside. The diary of Delegate Hooper says on this subject, "Maxwell [the United States Marshal for Utah] said he would take out British papers and be an American citizen no longer. Claggett [Delegate from Montana] a.s.serted that we had spent $200,000 on the judiciary committee, and Merritt [Delegate from Idaho]