On his birthday, March 1st, Elder Woodruff was greeted by a hundred women and forty-eight men, who assembled in the Temple for the purpose of aiding him in the ordinances for his kindred dead. For that occasion Mrs. Emily Spencer, and Moses Farnsworth composed in his honor verses containing congratulations and praise.
On the 6th of March, accompanied by Erastus Snow, he left St. George at three o'clock in the morning. They went direct to Kanab where they held a two days meeting, and then with William Johnson, and Brigham Y. Duffin he began his pilgrimage and exile among the colonies of Saints and among the Indians of Arizona. The following account of his travels is taken from the Deseret News, Weekly, 1879, page 314:
SUNSET, ARIZONA, May 29th, 1879.
Editors Deseret News:
As I have been traveling for a season as a missionary among the Saints and Lamanites in Arizona, and have taken observations of the country, men and things, I have thought perhaps a few dottings by the way would not be uninteresting to the numerous readers of the News. After crossing over the great Colorado River at Lee's Ferry, and crossing the hog's back, which seemed to be the most difficult and dangerous road for loaded teams to pass over that I ever saw, I indulged in the thought and hope that not many years would pass before a suspension wire bridge would span that river many miles below its present crossing, which would save fifty or one hundred miles of weary travel, and entirely escape the dangerous crossing of that terrible mountain.
We viewed the Colorado River far below the ferry, confined within its narrow bed by solid perpendicular stone walls two thousand feet high, which made the stream look quite diminutive. It being a very dry season throughout the whole country, the wells, tanks, and springs were dry in a great measure. It makes it very difficult for companies to travel this season owing to the want of water for both man and beast. The distance from Willow Springs to Moan Copy is some fifteen miles over a strange country of a barren desert of rocks, sand hills, mounds, gravel beds, and many curious rocks which look as though they were hewn, some of them twenty feet long by twelve to eighteen inches wide, and twelve to eighteen inches thick. The hills are of thin slate in a decayed state, rocks are in every shape of men, women, children, and palaces. The country is without water, grass, or soil, until we arrive at the Moan Copy wash bottoms which contain a large quantity of good land, covered with vegetation and soil suitable for wheat or any cultivated crops.
The present settlement, in a fort form, is located on a hill a hundred feet above the cultivated land, in the midst of sand hills. A good spring of water is a hundred feet below the fort, the water is brought into the fort by a hydraulic ram, placed there by John W. Young. This saves much labor, as it avoids the necessity of carrying the water a hundred feet up a steep hill. There is a townsite laid out two miles north of the fort, called Tuba, which stands upon a plat of good soil, with good springs of water. A number of families are building upon the new location. I consider Moan Copy a very important location in many respects for a settlement of the Saints, as an outpost, and especially its connections with the surrounding Lamanites of the Moqui and Navajo tribes. I held many interesting meetings with both the Saints and Lamanites, and with the Indian chiefs at Moan Copy.
The great change which has of late come over all the tribes of Indians in Utah, Arizona, and Mexico, from war to peace, is visible to every observing mind and could have been accomplished only by the power of God. A few years ago neither "Mormon" nor "Gentile" could travel with any safety among the Navajo, Apache, or other Indian tribes of this country; while to-day any white man can travel, either alone or in company, with safety, if he will attend to his own business and not interfere with the Indians. Many of the Lamanites are uniting with the Saints at Moan Copy, Sunset, and other settlements in cultivating the earth, raising wheat, corn, and vegetables, and the brethren are doing what they can to help them. A young man by the name of Polakkah, son of the Chief Cashaby, has a prospect of being a benefit to his tribe. He speaks seven different languages, including good Spanish, and some English. He is raising wheat at Moan Copy, and learning English. He is intelligent, and active, is trying to understand the geography of the earth. The Indian tradition is that there is a new sun every day. But while he was trying to understand that the earth revolved upon its axis and we have but one sun, his faith was tried. While on a visit to San Francisco, he saw the sun sink into the sea and the water put it out. He could not see for a while how it could come out again, but being informed the earth was round, and the sun was hidden from view by the rotation of the earth, he became reconciled.
Brother John W. Young has established a trading store at Moan Copy, and is furnishing the Lamanites goods for their wool and the brethren goods for their labor, which is a benefit for both the Saints and Lamanites. He pays a liberal price for wool and sells goods very reasonably. This brings the Moqui and Navajo tribes, both chiefs and people, to Moan Copy to trade. He has bought some thirty thousand pounds of wool this season, baled it up and sent it to Utah to be manufactured. He laid the corner-stone of a woolen factory at Moan Copy on the first day of May, and it, with its surroundings, was dedicated to the Lord. The walls will be built of stone; plenty of good rock can be obtained within a few rods of the building. The walls were being rapidly erected when I left. If the factory proves successful in its operation, it will be a great blessing to both the Saints and Lamanites.
In company with John W. Young and several other brethren, I left Moan Copy on the 17th of April, to visit the San Francisco Mountain country. We camped at night upon the Little Colorado River, and found the stream rather low. On the 18th we visited the Black Falls, where both the bed of the river and shore were composed of black volcanic rock. A short distance above, the river could easily be taken out, without any dam, to irrigate a good deal of land, supposed to be suitable for cultivation, and the surrounding country is very suitable for an extensive herd ground. On the 19th we nooned at the Grand Falls, the main fall we judged to be about one hundred feet. On the night of the 20th we camped at Turkey Tanks, which are composed of hard volcanic rock; the one we watered at is about one hundred feet by twenty-five wide, and ten feet deep; the water formed from rain and snow, was clear, cold and good; another tank, twice the size was about three hundred yards below. Our barometer gave the altitude six thousand nine hundred feet. The country abounds with deer, antelope, and turkey which drink at these tanks. We saw twenty antelope and heard the turkeys gobble before we were out of bed. We entered on the east side of that noble pine forest, which surrounds the San Francisco Mountain, and spent the night of the 21st at the Flagstaff Springs, eight miles south of San Francisco Springs. We found three men at the Flagstaff Springs, building and farming; they were raising good wheat, potatoes, early corn, squashes, and vegetables without irrigation, their altitude being seven thousand five hundred and seventy-five feet. On the morning of the 22nd, we drove eight miles to San Francisco Springs, which have been purchased by John W. Young, who has erected two buildings and done a good deal of fencing; his house and springs stand at the north end of one of the finest parks, either natural or artificial, I ever saw; it contains about 4,000 acres, without stick, stone, or bush, with a soil as black and rich as the Missouri bottoms. It is shielded on the north, east, and west by the San Francisco mountains and hills, and open to the south, and is surrounded on every side by that immense forest of giant pine timber. I look upon this as one of the finest bodies of pine timber in America. There is no underbrush and the trees stand from 6 inches to 4 feet in diameter, and from 50 to 150 feet in height, and a good deal of it from 20 to 40 feet to the first limb. The whole face of the earth, both forest and parks, is covered with a heavy body of good nutritious bunch grass, even to the very top of the highest volcanic cones, that we ascended to the height of 10,000 feet, and there seems to be range enough to support tens of thousands of horses, cattle, and sheep. We rode our mules on to the top of a cone some 2,000 feet above the park, where we had a view of all the surrounding country, as far as the eye could extend, and we saw the same immense forest interspersed with parks from 100 to 10,000 acres. The altitude of San Francisco spring is 8,040 feet; still the men eight miles south, who had spent several winters there, said they had but little snow and that the stock kept fat all the year round. All this country abounds with game. Brother Young's men had commenced plowing to put in wheat and spring crops. We had to travel, as the road ran in a circle nearly all around the mountain, about 120 miles from Moan Copy, when, if a road could be located on the north side of the mountain to the Little Colorado River, Moan Copy could be reached in half the distance.