History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

MANUSCRIPTS. 331
companies, and much information of a miscellaneous nature, relating to housebuilding
in Salt Lake City, the first manufactures, the location of the temple,
and other matters. The manuscript also makes mention of his visit to England
as a missionary in LS46, in company with Parley P. Pratt and Orson Hyde.
The Narrative of General Daniel H. Wells, MS., gives an account of the
disturbances in Hancock county, the troubles at Nauvoo before the exodus,
the journey to Winter Quarters, the organization of the Nauvoo legion, and
of the state of Deseret; but perhaps the most valuable portion is a condensed
narrative of all the Indian outbreaks between 1849 and 18C4, a task for which
General Wells, who during this period had charge of the Nauvoo legion and
aided in suppressing some of the disturbances, is specially qualified.
Wilford Woodruff's Journal, MS. , commencing with the claims of Sidney
Rigdon to the guardianship of the church, in 1846, and closing with a summary
of the operations of the pioneers in the following year. Mr Woodruff
gives some valuable details concerning this most interesting period in the annals
of Mormonism. Being himself a pioneer, he furnishes minute particulars
as to their journey and their early labors in the valley.
In A Woman's Experiences with the Pioneer Band, by Mrs Clara Decker
Young, MS., we have also some information as to the work accomplished
during the single month that the pioneers remained in the valley, among
other matters being the building of the old fort. Items of interest are also
given concerning those who were left alone in the valley after the pioneers'
departure, until the arrival of Parley Pratt's companies. Clara Decker Young,
a native of Freedom, N. Y., moved with her parents to Daviess co., Mo., in
1837, the family being driven, during the persecutions of that year, to Far
West, whence they removed to Quincy, and later to Nauvoo. When 16 years
of age she became the fifth wife of Brigham Young.
From the Material Progress of Utah, by William Jennings, MS., I have
gathered many details as to the industrial condition of the Mormons from the
earliest settlement of S. L. City up to a recent date, among them being items
relating to manufactures, agriculture, stock-raising, the grasshopper plague,
and the influence of the railroad on the population of Utah.
Early Justice, by John Nebeker, MS., besides describing the punishment of
offenders in the days of 1847, when, as I have already stated, the whippingpost
was substituted for imprisonment, furnishes other material of value
relating to early times. In his capacity of public complainer, Mr Nebeker
prosecuted one culprit before the high council for stealing, and himself administered
the flogging. Mr Nebeker, a native of Delaware, came to Nauvoo
in the winter of 1846; crossed the plains with the first companies, and left
Winter Quarters with Parley Pratt's detachment.
In The Migration and Settlements of the Latter-day Saints, by Mrs Joseph
H. Home, MS., is an account of her conversion, her experiences at Far West,
Quincy, and Nauvoo, and the hardships suffered during the migration. Then
follows a description of the first years in S. L. City, the food, dress, and
dwellings of the saints, their make-shifts and privations, with some mention
of the Mormon battalion, and the ill feeling caused by the withdrawal of 500
able-bodied men at this crisis in their affairs. Mrs Home, a native of Rainham,
England, moved with her parents to New York (now Toronto, Canada)
when ten years of age. In 1836, the year of her marriage, she was converted
by the preaching of Parley and Orson Pratt, her house being afterward open
to the elders, who frequently held meetings there.
From the Utah Sketches, MS., I have gathered much information as to the
founding of various settlements and their progress up to the year 1880, of
which mention will be made later. Most of them were written by persons
who were themselves among the earliest settlers, and of whom some are still
prominent members of the several communities among which their lot was
cast. In this connection may be mentioned the Brief Historical Sketch of the
Settlements in Weber County, by Joseph Stanford, MS. , and the Historical Sketch
of Ogden City, by the same author.
In addition to the manuscripts and journals constituting the vast original