Chapter 6.
Brigham's Wise Counsels.—Joseph Toronto.—Joseph Smith.—Seer and Organizer.—Prophecy of August 6, 1842.
In those days of constant home changing Brigham was somewhat like the father of a large rustling family; everybody came to him for comfort or counsel. Perhaps I cannot do better than relate a few incidents to show how they trusted to his guidance.
In 1845 an Italian sailor by name of Toronto, had saved his earnings, until he had several hundred dollars. But he was worried for fear he would lose it, and could not decide where to deposit it. On returning from a voyage, and just before reaching New York, he had a dream in which a man stood before him, and told him to leave his money with "Mormon Brigham" and he should be blessed.
On reaching New York, he began to inquire for "Mormon Brigham," but no one knew him. Finally he met a person who told him that Brigham Young, the President of the Mormon Church, lived at Nauvoo, Ill. Toronto never rested until he reached that place. Making his way to President Young's office, he laid the money on the table, and, merely asking for a receipt, would apparently have left without further explanation, if Brigham had not detained him. The money was sorely needed, and the act was so deeply appreciated, that the humble trusting man was taken to the President's home, and became a permanent member of the family.
At Winter Quarters a man by name of Majors, a gentleman of wealth and scholarly attainments, came to Brigham and said that one of his thoroughbred mares was down from starvation and could not get up,—then asked if he had better not kill her. "No," replied the President, "never destroy life. Try to save her. If you can't provide for her give her to Toronto and I will tell him how to provide for her." He further arranged to have a windlass erected, and the mare swung up. Then sods were cut. Of them a stable was built around her, and so the animal was saved.
Afterwards I saw Brother Toronto sell a pair of her colts to Kinkaid of Salt Lake for seven hundred dollars. Moreover, Joseph Toronto, humble, untutored Italian sailor, became, under the wise counsels of Brigham Young, a man of property, raised up an honorable family, and gave his children a good education.
I could relate numerous other instances coming under my notice during boyhood days, to demonstrate the fact that President Young, whether on the plains or in his office, was always accessible to the common people, and that his counsels, when carried out, invariably brought blessings.
At Winter Quarters he was everywhere; now at the bedside of the dying, next in his carriage flying perhaps to the scene of a prairie fire, where his calm voice might be heard directing the labors of his willing followers: counseling peace, but ever urging eternal vigilance.
No sooner would his hands drop the critical labors of the moment, than his mind would turn forcefully to preparing for the onward move, which all knew would come in the early spring. From the various camps he selected the hardy, robust, and energetic men whom he wished to have with him in the pioneer movement that the council had decided should be made as soon as grass grew.
In my frequent use of the name Brigham, I do not wish to convey the idea that there was only one capable man, only one great leader in our camps. On the contrary, I consider that we had a collection of able men. Joseph Smith, in his short prophetical career of fifteen years, had not only given the Book of Mormon to the world, but had brought forth and established the most perfect church organization that we have any record of. In doing this he had gathered around him many able, and some very learned men. Among the latter were such men as Sidney Rigdon, Willard Richards, Lorenzo Snow, Orson Spencer, Orson Pratt and Dr. Bernhisel; while of the former the new faith had gathered into its fold, a legion of strong, intelligent spirits, such as Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, George A. Smith, John Taylor, and a host of others equally honorable and worthy of mention; men who have since made notable history. These were now numbered in the camps of Israel and Brigham Young valued their stalwart character, their sterling integrity, and their wise counsel, and honored their decisions.
As a matter of fact, it was not President Brigham Young's personal superiority which gave him preeminence. His leadership came by calling and ordination from Joseph, and the approval of the people. Hence in Mormon theology, back of Brigham stood Joseph and the people, and back of Joseph stood the mighty Lord, even Jesus Christ, from whom came the power and influence that held this multitude of moving families together, and made it possible for one man—Brigham Young—to select the men he desired to accompany him on the wonderful journey that still lay before them.
Of course our people knew, or had reason to believe, that in Oregon there were grand rivers, and extensive forests, with rich intervening glades, inviting the home-seeker to come and take possession; but experience had taught us that prosperity and wealth excite jealousy, and invite turmoil and trouble, and so far had culminated in expulsion from our homes. On the other hand, the interior of California was marked on our maps as an uninhabitable desert, and Brigham said: "If there is a place on this earth that our enemies do not want, that's the place I'm hunting for."
If the reader will bear in mind that in July we had given a battalion of five hundred of our ablest men to fight our country's battles in Mexico, it will help them to realize the additional sacrifice the people would now have to make to fit out and part with one hundred and forty men for a pioneer advance guard, whose duty it would be to find the place where, under the blessing of God, the Saints might rest in peace. By parting with the battalion boys, our camps were so weakened that in many instances mothers and children had to do the rough, out-of-door work of husbands and fathers; and many of the early converts to Mormonism were from the eastern states, and came from homes where refinement had clustered round the family hearth and music and song had happified their lives. The strenuous nature of frontier struggles was consequently new to them. Nevertheless, in building up temporary homes at Winter Quarters, it was no strange thing to see the sisters hauling logs for the cabin, or mixing and carrying mud for the chinking and daubing; and in the winter, when death stalked through our camps, it seemed that a heavy per cent of the "called ones" were our strongest, bravest men; men whose places could not be filled, no matter how willing the substitutes were.
Nature seldom qualifies the woman to do the work of the man. There is, however, much truth in the adage, "Where there's a will there's a way," and the deeds accomplished under the most trying circumstances prove that the Mormon people had the will, for what, indeed, is will but another name for faith? And to those who have faith, all things are possible. Only by this God-given power, so little known and comprehended, were our people enabled to cross the trackless plains, subdue the wilderness, and make the "desert to blossom as the rose."
Often in our public meetings the Elders would liken the Church to a ship, and the "Ship Zion" was no mean figure of speech. Let us carry it further and see her launched upon a boisterous, unknown sea; then let an emergency arise in which the captain and many of the ablest sailors are called away and the ropes have to be manipulated by inexperienced hands; for that is exactly the condition we were in.
How appropriately even we might paraphrase Nelson's historical signal: "England expects every man to do his duty." England was not disappointed, and to this day the English nation is proud of the record made by her gallant sailors. In simple justice, that is the way the United States should feel toward the Mormon people; for never in the history of the world was a grander movement made for the establishment of liberty, than the exodus of the Saints from Nauvoo. Like the cutting; of the dykes of Holland, or the burning of Moscow, it was the making of a whole-souled sacrifice, that they and all the children of men might receive an expansion of religious freedom. And, we, their descendants, have reason now to rejoice that it was the Latter-day Saints who were thus resisting oppression and injustice, and suffering untold sorrows, that this nation might retain the proud distinction of being an asylum for the oppressed and down-trodden of the world. Coming generations will award the Mormons the just praise that is now withheld from them.
On the 6th of April, 1847, the annual Church conference was held at Winter Quarters. It lasted only one day, for the labor of fitting out the pioneers seemed to engross everybody's time. Hearts had not yet ceased aching over the parting with the battalion boys; yet now a band of the fathers were on the eve of starting on a perilous journey, and the end thereof no man knew. Their departure would leave a poverty-stricken community of widows and orphans. Thoughts of that parting dampened every attempt at revelry and would have filled every bosom with gloom, save that we knew it was God's will. For a year we had been singing:
"In upper California, O that's the land for me—
It lies between the mountains and the great Pacific sea.
The Saints can be protected there, and enjoy their liberty
In upper California, O that's the land for me."
We furthermore recalled to mind that on the 6th of August, 1842, Joseph had prophesied: "You will be driven to the Rocky Mountains; many will apostatize, or lose their lives in consequence of exposure or disease; yet some of you will live to go and assist in making settlements and in building cities and will see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains." All believed in this prophecy and rejoiced that it was on the verge of fulfillment. Consequently, as Hannah, in the gratitude of her heart, gave Samuel to the Lord, so these daughters of modern Israel gladly gave their husbands and grown-up sons to be the standard bearers of the Prophet Brigham in planting the Ensign of Zion in the tops of the mountains.