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History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

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GLORIOUS PERSECUTION. 135<br />

There was no help for them; they must leave the<br />

state or be killed; <strong>of</strong> this they were assured on all<br />

sides, publicly and privately.<br />

And now begins another painful march— painful in<br />

the thought <strong>of</strong> it, painful in the telling <strong>of</strong> it. It is<br />

midwinter; whither can they go, and how? They<br />

have homes, but they may not enjoy them; land<br />

which they have bought, houses which they have<br />

built, and barns and cattle and food, but hereabout<br />

they are hunted to death. Is it Russia or Tartary<br />

or Hindostan, that people are thus forced to fly<br />

for opinion's sake? True, the people <strong>of</strong> the United<br />

States do not like such opinions; they do not like a<br />

religious sect that votes solid, or a class <strong>of</strong> men whom<br />

they look upon as fools and fanatics talking about<br />

taking the country, claimed as theirs by divine right;<br />

but in any event this was no way to settle the difficulty.<br />

Here are men who have been stripped in a<br />

moment <strong>of</strong> the results <strong>of</strong> years <strong>of</strong> toil—all that they<br />

have in the world gone; here are women weighed<br />

down with work and care, some whose husbands are<br />

in prison, and who are thus left to bear the heavy<br />

burden <strong>of</strong> this infliction alone; here are little children,<br />

some comfortably clad, others obliged to encounter<br />

the wind and frozen ground with bare heads<br />

and bleeding feet.<br />

Whither can they go? There is a small following<br />

<strong>of</strong> the prophet at Quincy, Illinois; some propose to<br />

go there, some start for other places. But what<br />

if they are not welcome at Quincy, and what can<br />

they do with such a multitude? There is no help<br />

for it, however, no other spot where the outcasts<br />

can hope for refuge at the moment. Some have<br />

horses and cattle and wagons; some have none.<br />

Some have tents and bedding; some have none. But<br />

the start is made, and the march is slowly to the<br />

eastward. In the months <strong>of</strong> February and March44 " 'On the 20th <strong>of</strong> April, 1S39, the last <strong>of</strong> the society departed from Far<br />

West. Thus had a whole people, variously estimated at from ten to fifteen

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