History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

472
UTAH AS A TERRITORY.
how to till their lands; they assured them that they
would suffer no wrong; but they also told them that if
they inflicted wrong, punishment would follow. Never-
theless, when the tide of gentile emigration set in for
California, outbreaks among the Indians were of frequent
occurrence. The troubles caused to the early
settlers in the Utah Valley in 1849-50 have already
been mentioned. In the autumn of the latter year,
a disturbance occurred in the northern part of the ter-
ritory, caused by a party of emigrants, who, while encamped
on the Malade River, shot two Shoshone
women as they were crossing the stream on horseback,
stole their horses, and then set forth on their journey.
Thereupon the warriors of the tribe began to commit
depredations on the northern settlements, slaying a
Mormon named Campbell, who was engaged in building
a saw-mill, near Ogden, and threatening to massacre
the inhabitants of that village. General Eldredge
of the Nauvoo legion, being sent with a detachment
to the scene of action, found that the Shoshones had
moved northward, carrying off a number of horses
band, and encamped near the present site of Main Street, S. L. City. During
my visit to Utah, in August 1S84, he described to me the cabin that he
built soon after his arrival near the spot where the ' Beehive ' later stood.
Its roof was of dirt, and its flooring of planks, sawn by his own hands. This
was the first house built in the city, and as it had glass for windows, was
long considered one of the most comfortable. Around this residence locust
trees were planted, but only those were saved which were covered with
buckets. At the time of my visit I found Mr Young living at his country
home, within two or three miles of the capital, in company with the eldest
of his three wives, Harriet Page Wheeler Young, a native of Hillsborough,
N. H., who was baptized into the faith in Feb. 1836, and was married to Lorenzo
at Nauvoo in 1844, a few weeks before the assassination of Joseph Smith.
The house was long and narrow, plainly built and furnished, indicating no surplus
of this world's goods. Mrs Harriet Young is the heroine of the story related
above. In a double brick house near by lived the other wives of Mr
Young. They were honest, good-natured, credulous people, and were thoroughly
contented with their lot. Their simple needs were all supplied; their
barn was filled with hay, and the yard well stocked with poultry. All the
wives addressed Lorenzo as ' father, ' and the entire party seemed to form one
patriarchal family, living quietly, happily, and in accordance with their faith.
At this date Mr Young was 77 years of age; he was a man of medium height,
ruddy, and cheerful of countenance, with kindly blue eyes, thin, white, curly
locks, and except for a slight deafness, showed little trace of age. He said that
on his 73th birthday he counted 122 living descendants, but had since lost
track of the number of his grandchildren. He expressed a wish that the doctrine
of polygamy should be studied in the light of the old testament, and the
facts laid bare by some honest and impartial inquirer.