During the exciting period of the "Utah War," the subject of which, treated at length, would cover the four years from 1857 to 1861, the time of the sojourn of "Johnston's army" in the valley, Heber was one with Brigham in the bold yet patriotic stand taken by Zion's leader in repelling the hostile invasion. We need not dwell upon the oft-told tale. President Kimball was a man of peace, and not of war, and, though not lacking in courage, preferred to battle with error and the powers of evil, than with his fellow-men.
In the spring of 1858, when the Saints, to the number of 30,000, abandoned their homes at the approach of the army, President Kimball accompanied the exodus of his people south as far as Provo, whence he returned, after peace was assured, to his home in Salt Lake City early in July. The soldiers had marched quietly through the deserted city, crossed the Jordan, and camped at Cedar Valley, forty miles south-west, opposite the town of Lehi, where they founded Camp Floyd, afterwards renamed Fort Crittenden, and occupied it until the autum of 1861, when the troops were withdrawn to take part in the war of the Great Rebellion.[A]
[Footnote A: General A. S. Johnston, who led this army to Utah, fell at the battle of Shiloh, April 6th, 1862, fighting on the side of the Confederacy. He was a brave and brilliant soldier, and one of the recognized great generals of the war.]
Apropos of the war:—In an old memorandum book belonging to President Kimball, in which he sometimes noted down his thoughts, appears the following:
"GREAT SALT LAKE CITY,
"March 27th, 1859.
"The word of the Lord to me, Heber C. Kimball. At 9 o'clock in the evening the Lord said to me that division would take place between the north and south within six years, and much blood would be spilt, and I should live to see it."
CHAPTER LXII.
SOME OF HEBER'S FAMILY HISTORY—A PATRIARCHAL HOUSEHOLD—NAMES OF HIS WIVES AND CHILDREN—EPISODE OF ABRAM A. KIMBALL—PETER, THE CHILD OF PROMISE—HEBER AT FAMILY PRAYERS—DAVID H. KIMBALL'S STORY—HEBER P. AND SOLOMON F. KIMBALL IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
A few leaves from President Kimball's domestic life will now be in order. His was one of the most interesting, as likewise one of the most numerous families in the Church. Like the patriarchs and prophets of old, whose example he religiously followed, he was the husband of many wives and the head of a multitudinous posterity.
Moreover, it is safe to say that no family in Israel, in its domestic relations, better exemplified the true nature and purpose of the polygamic principle, than the family of Heber C. Kimball.