July 27th, Elder Woodruff recorded trouble with the Indians in Cache Valley in which Irwin Merrill was killed, and his brother seriously wounded.
He also recorded on a subsequent date a statement by President Young respecting the claim of Sidney Rigdon, in 1844. Of those times President Young said: "When I met with the Saints in Nauvoo the first time after the Prophet's death and defended the arguments of the Twelve against the claims of Sidney Rigdon, I had in mind then that there would be a presidency of three appointed, but I knew the people were not prepared for it at the time; and on our return with the pioneers to the Valley, I broached the subject, first to Apostle Woodruff and then to the rest of the Quorum. They received and sustained it."
On the first of September, a large company of Saints, largely from Germany and Switzerland, reached the city. They were under the presidency of Elder James D. Ross. Elders Woodruff, George A. Smith, Lorenzo Snow, and F. D. Richards paid them a visit and gave them special instructions relating to their new homes and their duties and labors in Zion. Elder Bonnelli acted as their interpreter. Elder Woodruff recorded the following words from the mouth of Elder George A. Smith, by way of instructions to the Swiss and German Saints: "Be faithful. Repent of your sins and live your religion. Don't be in a hurry to marry men who profess to save women by the wholesale. Wait until you get acquainted and find out that men are worthy to be saved themselves, before you marry them. Be careful not to be cheated by speculators. Some who come here feel that everyone should be perfect. When they see the failings of men, they become dissatisfied, without looking at their own failings. Don't be in a hurry to get rich. Do right, and all will be well with you. When we first came here, we had nothing given us to eat. There was only that which we brought with us. You should turn your hand to any honorable employment. Don't be greedy to get too much land to begin with; what you get, cultivate well. Learn all you can of the work of God, for I know it is His work, and Joseph Smith was a true prophet."
Elder Woodruff recorded at this time a visit of Captain Burton of the British Army, whom he describes as a free, noble-minded man. President George A. Smith gave him a history of the troubles of the Saints for the past five years. Captain Burton had traveled extensively and threw off the yoke of prejudice and superstition.
September 9th, that year, in his address to the Saints in the Tabernacle, President Young spoke at length upon the conduct of those missionaries who accumulated money while on their mission with which to buy goods and establish themselves as merchants. Some of the money used for this purpose he said had been obtained from the Saints abroad. Such a practice was severely rebuked, and the missionaries, generally, were instructed thereafter to abstain from such a course.
CHAPTER 40.
THE YEARS 1864-65.
Some Enjoyments.—He Visits a Condemned Man in Prison.—Troubles Made by Gibson on Hawaiian Islands.—Lorenzo Snow's Escape from Watery Grave.—Visit to Bear Lake Valley.—Remark of President Young in Logan.—Ordination to Apostleship of Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, and Franklin D. Richards.—Hot Springs at Midway.—Second Inauguration of President Lincoln.—Treaty with Indians.—Colfax Visits Utah.—Jane Blackhurst.