"In this bow an army moved, commencing from the east and marching to the west; they continued marching until they reached the western horizon. They moved in platoons, and walked so close that the rear ranks trod in the steps of their file leaders, until the whole bow was literally crowded with soldiers. We could distinctly see the muskets, bayonets and knapsacks of the men, who wore caps and feathers like those used by the American soldiers in the last war with Britain; and also saw their officers with their swords and equipage, and the clashing and jingling of their implements of war, and could discover the forms and features of the men. The most profound order existed throughout the entire army; when the foremost man stepped, every man stepped at the same time; I could hear the steps. When the front rank reached the western horizon a battle ensued, as we could distinctly hear the report of arms and the rush.
"No man could judge of my feelings when I beheld that army of men, as plainly as ever I saw armies of men in the flesh; it seemed as though every hair of my head was alive. This scenery we gazed upon for hours, until it began to disappear.
"After I became acquainted with Mormonism, I learned that this took place the same evening that Joseph Smith received the records of the Book of Mormon from the angel Moroni, who had held those records in his possession.
"John Young, sen., and John P. Greene's wife, Rhoda, were also witnesses.
"My wife, being frightened at what she saw, said, 'Father Young, what does all this mean?'
"'Why, it's one of the signs of the coming of the Son of Man,' he replied, in a lively, pleased manner.
"The next night similar scenery was beheld in the west by the neighbors, representing armies of men who were engaged in battle."
A wonderful foreshadowing, truly, of the warfare to be waged between the powers of good and evil, from the time Truth sprang from earth and Righteousness looked down from heaven upon the boy Joseph, predestined to bring to light the buried records of the past.
In Mendon began the intimacy and friendship of Heber C. Kimball with his life-long colleague, Brigham Young. The Youngs and Greenes, like the Kimballs, were from Vermont, and had moved into Mendon a few months prior to the event just related. In religion they were Reformed Methodists, but, being in lowly circumstances, were looked down upon by the proud members of the flourishing church to which they belonged. They had suffered greatly from sickness, and had seen much sorrow and affliction.
Heber's generous heart and that of his noble wife were touched with sympathy and compassion for their situation. Says he: "To them my heart was united, because a principle had existed in my breast from earliest childhood, to plead the cause of suffering innocence, to go on the side of the oppressed at all times; neither do I remember to have ever varied from this fixed principle at any time in my life; I have many times turned aside from the company of those who were highly esteemed in the world, and sought the society of the poor and humble, those who loved the ways of the Lord better than the praise of the world."