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Show 262 ident is sincere and intends to carry out his pledges made through the commis- 21 sioners." The Mormons had so often been the victims of broken promises and treachery in Missouri and Illinois that this attitude is easily understood. Notwithstanding his benevolent statements about Governor Cumming is recent days, President Young did not entirely trust him either. To guard against a double-cross, he had William C. Staines, at whose house the governor was lodging, gather information for him. On June 17 he wrote a note to Young telling the president of a letter he had seen in the governor's room while he was absent. The letter was only Cumming's response to General Johnston's decision to begin his advance without receiving word from authorities in Salt Lake. The June 15 letter to Johnston was decidedly adverse to the general's decision and should have gone a long way toward proving Cumming*s sincerity toward the Mormon people, but in closing Staines declared to President Young, "I shall endeavor to keep the wax out of my ears and tbe dust out of my eyes the Lord being my helper."2 2 Cumming had not yet earned the full trust of Brigham Young. On June 30 Brigham Young approved the return of the exhiles to their homes. There was really no other choice. The White Mountain Expedition had failed to find a practical alternative, and there was mounting pressure from the people to end their self-imposed exhile. These people were just surviving where they were. The "war" had been a trying period for them, but the last two months were the most severe. Thousands lived in squalor along the Provo River bottoms and along the shores of Utah Lake west of Provo City. The lucky ones constructed board shanties, while those less fortunate had to be content living in dugouts and wagon boxes. Driven from their normal labors, many found it difficult to-obtain proper clothing and other necessities. Besides the critical clothing shortage, many of the Saints did not plant any crops, believing they would be driven away before they could harvest them. In ensuing weeks, 30,000 men, women, and |
