Elder Woodruff observed that in the School of the Prophets the brethren were instructed not to dabble in astrology, or any system which might contain a mixture of truth and error. Not one ray of light had ever been thrown upon the principle of salvation in the practice of clairvoyance and spiritualism. These subjects are not such as men can act upon with the ordinary intelligence God has given them.
In the early part of the year 1868, Elder Woodruff, John Taylor, and Joseph F. Smith with others were called to Provo for the purpose of assisting in the work to be done there. Abram O. Smoot was elected as mayor, and Elder Woodruff with others, constituted the City Council. The town was in need of a new spiritual life. It also needed strong men to guide its destinies and make it a center of one of the leading stakes of the Church. Elder Woodruff, however, did not long remain there, and upon receiving his release returned with his family to Salt Lake City.
When he reached Salt Lake City, he found there a letter from his brother Azmon, who had embraced the gospel when he did in the state of New York. The brother, however, was in a dissatisfied state of mind. He wrote letters occasionally to Wilford in which he set forth some of his objections to the work. In reply to these letters, some of which were copied in Wilford Woodruff's journal, he spoke to his brother with great plainness, told him about his wives and children, and gave a strong defense of the principle of Plural Marriage.
This was the year of the grasshopper war. Swarms of them had swept over the country. They were so thick at times as to cloud the rays of the sun. The struggle with these insects was rightly characterized as a war. It is difficult to realize at this distance of time what it meant in those days to protect the crops against the ravages of the grasshopper. All the ingenuity and device that men could bring to their assistance were used in the effort to save out of the ruins enough bread for winter use. Furrows were ploughed, nets were devised, and by these different means Elder Woodruff says in three days they caught and destroyed one hundred and seventy-five bushels of grasshoppers. Elder Woodruff gave to that war all his strength and ingenuity.
We next find him, according to his journal, grubbing willows, breaking land, building bridges, digging ditches, constructing roads, erecting fences, barns, and houses. He was, indeed, a model of industry. He was as pliable in spirit as he was in body. All honorable work was God's work, whether he dug a ditch, preached a sermon, or wrote history,—with him it was all alike for the glory of God.
In 1868 Apostle Woodruff made a record of the enthusiasm which he, in common with others, felt over the advent of the railroad. It was approaching the Territory from both the east and the west. There was considerable agitation about its location. President Young and others had taken contract for the construction of the road-bed. Where the railroad entered Utah was of course to them a matter of great importance, as Salt Lake City was the headquarters, and its future possibilities seemed wonderful to them. On the 10th of June Elder Woodruff walked from his farm on Canyon Creek to Salt Lake that he might take part in a mass-meeting which was to discuss the entrance or place of entrance of the roads into the Territory. Should these trans-continental lines meet in Ogden or Salt Lake City? To their minds Salt Lake City was the place. In that event, the road would go south of the lake, instead of north of it. Those, however, whose word was final in the matter decided to make Ogden the Junction City, and plans were at once entered into to construct from that place to Salt Lake City a branch line.
With the advent of the railroad, the interests of the Territory became so diversified that there were subjects to interest and occupy the non-Mormon and Mormons alike. There were more public platforms on which all might stand with equal interest.
Heretofore, the Fourth of July had been the principal occasion for universal celebration; this year it was observed in the customary manner. All the Sunday schools of the city marched to the Tabernacle, with them were enough grown people to make an audience of some ten thousand. Addresses were delivered by Governor Durkee, George A. Smith, General A. L. Chattan, and George Q. Cannon. Colonel E. H. Head was orator of the day. The Twenty-fourth was also appropriately celebrated by the Saints.
In August the leaders visited the settlements north as far as Logan. In his address there Elder Woodruff said: "When I was a youth, I felt that I would have gone hundreds of miles to see a prophet or an apostle of the Lord, or any other man called of God and inspired to preach the gospel of Christ in its fulness and purity. Now, as I travel through the country I see thousands of children, also men and women who behold prophets, apostles, and elders. They greet President Young, the Twelve, and others as we travel through the country. This is an excellent practice, as it will make a lasting impression upon the minds of all, especially the children. They will never forget it. When they meet in the years which are to come they will converse upon the scene of this visit something as follows: 'Oh! what a great change has taken place since the Prophet Brigham Young and the Apostles visited Logan in 1868. Then, it was a new country. There were a few settlements and only about ten thousand people, all told, in Cache Valley. Then, we had no tabernacle in which to worship—no Temple of the Lord stood upon the bench to the east of the city. Now, we have a great tabernacle, a beautiful Temple of the Lord, from whose summit we may view the glory of this valley filled with cities and towns from north to south. Then, our fields were filled one-half with sun flowers and noxious weeds. Now, they are properly tilled and no man occupies more land than he can cultivate properly.'"
On the return from this trip, a journey was taken by the leaders through the settlements south of Sanpete. The disagreements between the authorities and many non-Mormons of those times had created an enthusiastic determination on the part of the people to stand by their leaders. The efforts to imprison Brigham Young and to bring reproach upon his name only awakened the stronger their confidence and love. When the company reached Nephi many women and children came out to meet and greet him. They built a large pyramid of evergreens with the word "Welcome" woven into it. Their enthusiasm kindled into a heartfelt expression, "Blessed are they that come in the name of the Lord." There was a grand ovation wherever the leaders went.