On February the 3rd the California mail brought the news that President Buchanan recommended a strong force against the Saints. Later advices brought word that a steamer was to bring four thousand men by the southern route; four thousand more were to come from Oregon; and two thousand, from the Missouri River. There were then at Fort Bridger two thousand, making in all an army of twelve thousand men. In his journal, Elder Woodruff writes: "The trials and sacrifices the Saints may be called upon to pass through, I do not know, but I pray the Lord to give us grace according to our day."
President Young and the brethren were busily occupied in preparation either to meet the foe or burn the city and leave it desolate. Grain was sent to the mill and ground, and preparations were made for caching it in the earth. While the Saints were preparing to fight, they were also engaged in prayer and in temple work. The Endowment House was visited by hundreds who came there to receive its blessings.
On the 15th of February he records this in his journal: "I walked up to the Historian's Office and then to the President's where I found President Young, D. H. Wells, Chas. C. Rich, and Chas. Wandell. President Young said: 'All our sufferings in this life are for our good that we may learn the contrast between good and evil. Jesus descended below all things that He might rise above all things. All men who receive the same glory must abide the same law. Some are alarmed because so many of my family are sick. I have as good a right to be sick as any body. I do not wish to escape affliction, sickness, pain, or sorrow any more than others escape them; for if we make a right use of them they will return to us in blessings. I made up my mind years ago to be governed by certain principles. I resolved that I would never be controlled by my passions, by women, nor by anger, but that I would govern myself. This resolution I have endeavored to carry out in my life.'"
These were times that tried mens souls, and it was quite natural that they should turn their eyes inwardly and examine their own hearts to see if they were true to God and His cause. Such remarks indicate the rich, deep, and beautiful spiritual natures of the men whom the world has misjudged and illy treated.
On February 15th Apostle Amasa Lyman reached the city, bringing with him a messenger direct from Washington. It was no less a personage than their old-time friend, Col. Thomas L. Kane. They had made the journey from San Francisco in twenty days. Col. Kane brought with him dispatches from national head-quarters to Governor Young and the army. President Young immediately called a council for 7 o'clock, and Col. Kane was presented to the brethren by Joseph A. Young. The Colonel was very weary from his long journey. He reached the home of Governor Young at 8 o'clock, and after an introduction, addressed those present as follows: "Governor Young and Gentlemen: I come as an embassador from the chief Executive of our nation, and am fully prepared and duly authorized to lay before you more fully and definitely the feeling and views of the citizens of our common country and of the chief Executive towards you, relating to the present position of officers in this Territory and of the army of the United States now camped upon your borders. After giving you the most satisfactory evidence in relation to matters now pending and concerning you, I shall call your attention to the poor soldiers who are now suffering in the cold and snows of the mountains, and request you to render them aid and comfort. I shall ask you to assist them to come here, and to bid them a hearty welcome into your hospitable valley. Captain Van Vliet made a good report about you, and used his influence to have the army stop east of Bridger. He has done a great deal in your behalf. You all look very well. You have built up an empire here in a short time."
When asked if Dr. Bernhisel had taken his seat in Congress, he said: "Yes, he was opposed by the Arkansas members and a few others. They were foolish, for had he been refused his seat, it would have been a declaration of war." The Colonel conversed further on matters pertaining to the government and answered questions put to him by Governor Young.
Governor Young then spoke for some time expressing his gratitude for the visit of Col. Kane, and also occupied some time in speaking upon the principles of righteousness which control the actions of the Latter-day Saints. "They are in the hands of God. He will preserve His people." President Young then related to Colonel Kane how the Lord in a marvelous manner had placed means in the hands of himself, President Kimball, and other while on missions and elsewhere engaged in the work of God. These instances, he declared, were just as miraculous as those related in olden times by Peter and Paul.
After a late hour in the evening, the interview closed and all present felt that the visit of Colonel Kane was full of promise for the peace of Utah and the safety of the Saints. Elder Woodruff records several enjoyable visits which he had with Colonel Kane during his sojourn in the city.
March the 1st Elder Woodruff reached the fifty-first milestone in his life and celebrated the occasion by fitting out his son-in-law, Robert Scholes, to relieve the guards then in the mountains. He, himself, spent much of his time, however, in the Historian's Office in writing biographies of the leading men. They were called in to have read to them the history of their lives; and President Young, himself, often listened to many of the biographies and other items of Church history.
At this time he records the troubles that the Saints had with the Indians in the North in which two or three of the former were killed and many cattle were driven off. A little later trouble arose with the Indians in Rush Valley. Elder Woodruff sent his son Wilford with a team to help move the women and children of that locality to Tooele Stake for safety. During the son's journey he was lost in a heavy snow-storm and was compelled to plow his way through snow and mud nearly two feet deep to accomplish his mission. When the father heard of the son's predicament, he went on horseback to meet him but found him safe, he having been preserved from death by the blessings of the Lord.