Manuscripts: "Jest A Copyin-- Word F'r Word", 1969

Manuscript of "Jest A Copyin'-- Word F'r Word" by Juanita Brooks. Utah Historical QuarterlyI Volume 37, Number 4, Fall 1969

CLASS OF SERVICE DESIRED C.ABLE COME:STIC TELEGRAM FULL RATE DAY LETTER DEFERRED tjlGHT MESSAGE NIGHT LETTER SHIP RADIOGRAM NIGHT LETTER Patrons shouldcbeckclasa9fscrv ice desired; otherwise message will be • ., 't.,=ltted G.9 Q !Qii--rate commonication. · WE S'"F ER N UN IO N· NE:WCOMB CARLTON R. B. WHITII CHAIRMAN OP TH& BOAIID PRl:SIDl!NT thefoll@ing m~sage, 3ubject to the lemu on baclr, hereof, whlch are hereby agreed to _ KH258 38 GOVT NL-WUX VlASHINGTON J. C, WILLEVER F'IIIGT , TIME FILE6 • 1936 ,SEP 2 PM 4 27 • DC 2 . MARTIN C GRAFF , ASST STATE SUPERVISOR~ ' ' ' HISTORICAL RECORDS SURVEY 201 24 ST OGDEN UT.AR.;. < • ' .KlIIDLY ACCT'\, INFMN. • . SEND THREE OR FOUR OLD DAIRIES WITH TYPED COPIES TO ~· • I ,, MEWl' DEADLINE OF ' ' < SEPTEMBER SEVENTH STOP JOINT SURVEY WRITERS EXHIBITION IN NATIONAL'MUSEUM STOP OTHER EXHIBIT MATERIAL EHOTOSTATS PHOTOGRAPHS' WELCOMED BUT NOT ESSENTIAL THANKS • J;. . .·· ·r.,· ~.. .... 't-,. ·~"'1ET SS:ORT NO'l'I CE,. ,•' 1, A • l l LUTHEB H EVANS NATIONAL SUPERVISOR HISTORICAL RECORDS SURVEY. ---... " WESTERN UNION GIFT ORDERS ARE APPROPRIATE GIFTS FOR ALL OCCASIONS .' .: "' Report of Project for collectioi 1 of Social and historica l Da.ta in W,1shinGto n Cow-1ty-J uanita Brooks, Superviso r Autobiog raphies, Diaries, and Journals. 1- Adams, 1rJillib.I:i, Life of, by hi.:1self. written Jan. 1894 a,;e 72 years. Ori 5 inal in the hands of Hrs. Hay \ford Hunt, St. George, VtGh. Covers ye~ rs 1822-1894 &:.1d travels fr,m Ireland to Southern Utah, al3o .<lsf;io::12 ry travels. --------- ---- --------- --r:iages ------------'?.? 2T J...ndrus, Eilo, !.c1tobio _;raphy ,a:itten Jan. 1875- Ori8irn=i. l ovmed lJy A. B • Andr·i s, St. Geor'_;e, IJt,ah. Covers years 1314 to 1875; travels from IJew York to Soutnern Jtd1, aL;;o ;,1is ,ionary Nor!-::. --------- - --------- - -------- ---- 6 pages 3- ,J_tkin, ·,rhllia!:.l-" A Y0u:-h I s Ex;::ierienc e 11 by himself. Copied fro :1 early newspaper s "The unian" 1896. Thi::, is without cloc1bt taken fro.,1 jounnals kept at the tir.le as entries ave O.bted mid ite:.1s '»Titten as the~r hHppened. Cavers years 1832 to 1659. Tnis is concerned ch:Lefly witl, the trip across tne plains with a hand cart c·rnp:2ny, er:ipha.sis ,)n privati ms, ~1w:1ber of c:c2.ths, etc. ------- '23 pa~es 4- Ashworth, 1Jilliun 3. E.xtr-aet:::; fra:n the Life of. Te,ken froi.1 volll.:nes in the y. U Library. The part included here de,,ls with the >1o~tain Hea.do11s Massacre and. his experienc e in ?Olygamy. --------- --------- --------- --- :a. O 15 pages 5- Averett, George, Washington Gill-writ ten by hi.lllself at age 70, August 1894 Original owned by Mrs. Everett Syphus, St. George, Utah-cove rs years 18241894 and travels fron Tennessee to Southern Utah. Original spelling and punctuati on reproduce d. Concerned largely with early church persecuti ons and with travels and experienc es in the ~old fields-- ------- ·--.:_ _____ 26 pages 6-Bigler, Henry W.- Extracts from journal of. Original owned by Delbert Bigler. Provo, Utah. Covers years 1815-1846- travels from West Virginia to beginning of trip to Utah. Emphasis on early persecuti ons. Daily entries on later part of extract. ---------- -------- - ------ - - · - - - - ------ - ---- 13 pagee 7- Bigler, William Henry, Extr~s from Diary published in "The Union" for 1896. A day-by-da y account of trip to Californi a gold mines, experienc es there, and call on to Hawaii cm a mission. Covers years 1849-1853. Good descripti ons of travel across the desert, gold field experienc es and missionar y attitude ;· ------·· ------ ------- ·- 19 pages 8- Bigler, William Henry- copied from original journal owned by Delbert Bigler, Provo, Utah- covers years 1853-1898. Pages 17-23 deal with life after his return to Utah.-- -------- -------- -------- ·- -------- -- -------- --- 23 pages ... 9- Bowler, James Samuel, Page- Autobiogr aphy written 1921 at the age of 76original owned by Mrs. J.D. Pulsipher , Mesquite, Nevada, an account .of life and travels from Englanci to Utah. Entirely personal and full of detail e! .~1 purely family life. Reflects the adjustmen t necessary in changing from life ; in England city to Utah frontier. ---------- - -----·--- - - - - - - - 64 Pages . u I . -- ' ~· ., .... ,. JC'• y- ,.,,_ ·-"!-·.!t-•~,.., • ; ·· - 10- Bunker, Edward- Autobiography, written at the age of 72. Original owned by Mrs. Lois E. Jones, Overton, Nevada. Covers life from 1822-1894. Accounts o! early day persecutions, Mormon Battalion experiences, also settlement with three wives and families in Southern Utah.------------- ----------- 13 pages 11-Carroll, Charles Negus- by his daughter Emma Seegmiller Higbee, composea largely of entries copied directly from his diary. emphasis on privations and cholera during trip across the plains and life in Orderville----- 30 pages 12- Carroll, Charles Negus, an essential retelling of the ab0ve, with little new ad.d.ed. --------•--------------- ----------·--- ----------- ---------- 11 pages 13- Crosby, Jesse w. Diary and journal., original in the hands of Mrs. Lena Crosby, St. George, Utah, covering years 1820-1860. Much material on early c~h history., also 1nissionary- experiences. Goed detail on earjy' lite in Salt Lake City, first ora;nances for governing se'.ti€e~t, etc.------ 67 pages 14- Crosby, Hannah A.- AutDbiography- Covers years 1853 to 1915. Original ownea Mrs. Lois E. Bones, heutan, Nevada. Chiefly description o! living conditions in early Southern Utah.---------- --------------- by 15- Cox, Delaun Mills, Life History- written by his daughters with his assistance tor his 75 birthday. Original owned. by Mrs. Susie Wils~m, Hurricane, Utah. Consists of incidents of ·his life, with emphasis on Indian relations., polygamy, and early industries.----- ------------------ ----- 23 ·pages 16- Cox., Delaun Mills., Extracts from diary taken frQm day book from 1877-1881, showing activities while he lived in the Unitei Order in Orderville. Original owned by Mrs. Susie Wilson, Hurricane, Utah.~----------- 9 pag~s 17- Cox., Martha- Extracts frcm journal wtitten in 1928 but evidently copied largely from original diaries, Bournals 0wnea b7 Ei. I. Cox, Salt Lake City., Utah. Well written, full of color and detail of early life in Southern Utah- living conditions., education, polyganv, etc.-------- 48 pages 18- De Mille, OliTer ll, Brief sketch written by himself, secured by Mrs. Letitia Henderson, R8ckville, Utah.------------ ---------------- 3 pages 19- Earl, S7lvester, Memoir-cQpied from hand written original ownea by Mrs. Lois E. Jones, Overton, Nevada, Started in 1854 by himself. Covers years 1815 to l i,~. A general survey of travels and church activities------ 10 pages .. ..,...,, _ . 20- Earl, Sylvester H.- Extracts from ciiacy c~verbg years 1852-1856, taken from hand written original owned. by Mrs. Lois E. Jones, Overton, Nevaaa, most of the bQok cieals with details of Missi(l,n in England.- These were omitted.. This.extrac t includes an account of his joum1ey over, some original verse and the recora of his return with a hani cart company. Emphasis on cholera, I hardships and 4•ssention in camp.-- --------- --------- ------- 9 pages 21- G6fford, Moses E, Sr., Short sketch written by himself, 1869-1935 ana secured. by Mrs. Letitia Henderson, Rockville, Utah. ______ ,:_______ 3 pages 22- Gifford, s~~uel Kendall- written in 1904 at his d.ictati0n, by his grandaaughter. Vovers years 1821-1904 with emphasis on early persecutio ns.-- 7 pages 23- Hafen, Ma.r.r Ann, Life Story written by herself at age 79, covering years 1854 to 1933, from home in Switzerland , hand cart eaperiences , life in Santa Clara, early day industries, etc. Original owned by her.------ --- 27 pages 24- Ha.Dlll.ond., William Wallace- Autobiograp hy written in family register. Account of his life in the U.S.Army and. with the ce>mpany known as Johnson's Army which came to Utah. Record. of activities att..er joining L.D.S. and Life in Southern Utah.- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------ 13 pages : 1 25- Hepw0rth, Eaith Lewis, Life written by herself 1934, covers life from 1874 Brief sketcho- --- ___ ..____________ ---------- ---- -------- ---- - 3 pages " 26- HUl!lphries, James- Autobiograp hy, written, 1910, at the age ef 80. Brief sketch .------- -------- -------- -------- ---- - - - 3 pages 27- Isom, George ancd. Alice Parker- Written by Alice ? arker, '.f inished in 1925, evidently ~egun years earlier. Full of color and incidents of life in early Utah. Typical •f the more prosperous settlers. Original ownei by· George Is•m, Jr., Jurricane, Utah.-- --------- ---- - - - - 30 pages 28- Iseu., Gegrge Sr., Memo~ by him.self, covering years 1846-1885. Similar te abGve but with more emphasis •nearly life preceding marriage, ant from a man 1 s point of view after. Secured from George Isom Jr., Hurricane, Utah. --------- -------- • •- • - • ---- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 16 pages 29- Jarvis, Ann Prier- Life story finished in 1885 by herself. Covers years fro• 18.30-1885. Original awnea by Mrs. J•sephine Miles, St. Ge0rge, Utah. Essentially a soery ef hardship and privation, told without bitterness .- 20 pages I J ·! ·, • ii • .~ . , ~- < 30- Jarvis, Eleanor c. w.- Diary written by herself, finished 1923. A uaqJ acc~unt ef ••ings ef herself and family with little ef general interest. Trips, visits with chilaren, etc. Oriiinal secure• from Mrs. Ella J. Seepiller, St, George, Utah. ---------- ---------- ---------- --24 pages .'' 31- Jarvis, George Fredrick, Autebiograp hy, evidently sta~ed by hulself and finished by his wife. Orignial ownea by Mrs. Rose Thompson, Ceaar City, Utah Contains a number of unusual incidents of escapes, healings, etc., also a fair account of living conlii.tions. -------- --------- --------- ---- 10 pages 32- Jepson, JaI1.es Jr., Memoirs and. experiences written by hh1self, original in his own han4s. First part, experiences of parents in coming to Utah. His own life in Virgin occupies most of the account. Goo• detail an• loctl color, adaitional :material from an interview, 1935, - - - - - - - - - - - - 34 pages 33- Jennings, James H.- by himself-sec ured from Mrs. Letitia Henderson, Rockville, Utah. A picture of life en Virgin River with details ef education, Ini ians, Industries, ate. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - · - - - - - - - 6 pages 34- Jones, Mrs. J.C.- Autobiograp hy- brief sketch, with story of a kicinappea child from. her parents experiences . -------- --- ------- - - , 4 pages 35- Jones, Thomas J.- Drier Autoviography, listing church ana civic positions- 4 page~ 36- Juci.d, Mary- 141.nerva Dart- Autobiograp hy- covers years 1838-1882. Original owned by Mrs. Charles s. Cottam, St. George, Uta11. Gooa detail of crossing the plains ana early life in Soutpern Utah, Santa Clar~ mission, especially . Indians, Flooas, etc.----- --------- --------- pages -------------33 37- JuQd, Zotac Knapp, Memoira written at age of 75 eviaently with access to ciaries or other earlier recor4s. Good accounts of Missouri aifficultie s, stories of Mormon Battalion experiences , life in gola miles, and pioneering in Southern Utah. Original ownea by Mrs. s. _________ CottaD., St._________ __.,.._Charles George, Utah44 pages . _________ 38- Langston, John-Autooi ography, original. spelling and punctuation preserved. written at 55 years of age. original owned by Mrs. D~ton, Rockville, Utah-10 pages 39- Leany, William- Family history written from memory in his 76 year, original owned. by Mrs. HyrUlll Leany, St. George, Utah. Concerned largely with religious attitudes, Patriarchal blessings, etc.----- --------- ---- 40- Leany, Hyrum, A sketch of life of, uctated by himself and written by his wife, 1933. Original owned bJ Mrs. Leany, Largely faith promoting inci ents of a 'fliery sil:lple nature, -------- -------- -------- -------- - 41- Lewis, James - Brief aketoh secure4 froD. Letitia Henaerson, Rockville, Utaho Incluaea account of rrl.esion to China ana experiences in Southam Utaho - 4 pa e 42- Liston, Co.ramoiore Perry- Written by hiaself in 1877 in his 56 year. Original ownea. by Mrs. Ovilla Empey, St. George, Utah. Contains a number of instances ot the supernatura l, ti.reams, etc., as well as a goo• pioneer background - 10 pages l.J- MCAllister, John T. D.- Brief sketch, listing church activities- owne~ by M. w. MCAllister, St. George, Utah.-- --------- --------- ---- 4pages 44-MCAllis ter, William James Frazier- His own sritten story written 1907 age 62. Chiefly pioneer experiences in Southern Utah.-- --------- ----- 7 pages 45- McAllister, Williall Ja11es Frazier- By his aaughter-in -law, D. ~cAllister. Essentially the same as above, only more full of inciaents ;md color--- 8 pages 46- Miles, Samuel, Autobiograp hy an• nary, copied from original secured fro• Mrs. Minnie Mathis, St. George, Utlili. Begun in 1859 and. carrieti on with perioaic entriea to 1881. Summary of eally persecution s, Mormon Battalion life ana mission. With gooa close-up of early pioneering in Southern Utwtd5 pages 47-Nelson, Price W.- Experiences fro,!l life, taken froa 3ournals supplemente a DY interviews. Ellphasis throughout on haraships and privations, cruelties, etc., A tlifferent approach on Indi~ treatmen t--------- ---------- 87 Pages ~1 I ,I 48- Nixon, Hannah IsaDell Fawcett- AutoDiocrEflb1' written in her later lite. Ori1inal ownea by Mrs. Charles F. Foster, Jr. St. George, Utah. a graphie story of life in early Utah ana as a polygamous wife. - - - - - - - - - 1 6 Pages 49. Orton, Joseph- Auto°Diography ana Diary- Excellent portrayal of life in early- Southern Utah. Latter nary coneerne& with missionary experiences in Encbna- Ori1inal in nanti.s ot Ellen Carter, St. George, Utah. -----10 1 Page& 5(). Parker, John, •Y his aaughter, with his assistance,1 886. Very goo• picture of life in Southern Utah, also of edlier aays of the chureho Full ot ae.tail. Original o\omea ity George Isom., Jr. Hurricane, Utih. Typical ot :more pioneer s.------- --------- ~••·· •*16 Pages 51. Pulsipher, John. Auto~iograp hy an• tliary, copiea fro• hana written leager owned. ay Mrs. J.D. Pulsipher, Mesquite, Neva.a. Entries coTering expulsion fro• Nauvoo, journey to Salt Lake, call South, etc. as they happenea.- 107pages 52 Savage, Len- Diary- Originals ownea •Y Riley Savage, Leeds, Utah. Daily' entries, except for occasional lapses, froa 1884 - 1896. Deals la~~elywith church ane f.mily activities, •ut with accounts of cormunitJIP aoings, also complete account of arrest tor polygQIIY', prison term, etc. also Bishop's courts aI1Q JUJtho•s of cgurch discip line.-- ------- --459-pages 530 Smith, John Lyman- Extract fro• Journal- Originals ownea by Mrso Lottie Carter, st. George, Utah, not :aaae available to us. The part incluiea here consists of line-a-day entries covering his actirlties traveling ana collecting material for the Sto Geor,e temple.-- ----------- ---- 13- pages " I" " : "'"' ,,,, 54. Snow, Eclura H.- Extracts .froa his lite •Y iji•sel.f, copietl a;r his wife Hannah N. Snow, the whole not .made available to 11s. Brief review of church ana civic activites. ------------- ------------- --------- 7 pages 55. Stout, Joseph Allen, Journal ana Diary- .Journal suuarizes life fro 1815 to 1844- Diary continues activities fro• 1844- 1889. Original secired ay Mrs. Letitia Henderson, Rockville, Utaij. A close-up of lite of a large faru.ly in privation.-- -------------- -------------- --- 71 pages 56. TheDllala, Willlaa, Life 'by hillselt, written in 188 o Brief sketch - 6 pages 57. Workman, Andrew Jackson, •Y himself- Brief list ---------------~---7 pages , "'' " ,. - • V Diaries and Journals Mailed to Ogden office June 15-- Esias Edwards Myron Abbott Vol 1 June 22--- John Lyr;1an Smith June 29-- Georce Lake July 25--Levi r.:;. Sn,vage August 12--1Jephi J,I •. Savaee Sept 12-- ·,!illiara Nelson Vol 1 Isaac C. :Haicht Study of United Order Sept J.4 Joseph I Earl Oct. 9--C. J. Arthur Parts One and Tvro Indian Le sends F'L 1 J-'f Interview ·with i.:rs Andrus _ l.1/e-r• October 14:--'.'lilli·a .m A. :i.folson vol. 2 Nov. 13--C.J. Arthur Part Four }Iandboo1rn of Bic;ler Ja:;.".les Faruer Part One Dec. 21--C.J. Arthur Part I··ive. Jan. 4 AncJ.rev, Sprowl William Gibson Orson VJ. ·Iiuntsrnan Jan Appleton Fee . 15 J.:. q.. a,,v ·\ '(f' Vol.I Harmon Part 1 . !.pr,loton 1,1 . IIarmon Journal Crs on ·.: . Eunt snan \' ol 2 .:,utolri_o f.:;I'HT)r:ry of Edwa rd II . Snow •, H. Snow (' I' ~-:, , ' I) I I! ,· 0 7].T' Indian who snClkP English we].l, to Irori County, by R secret r out e , but he went only as far c1s Beaver where fie met Ammon--Walker's brot er with a karp.:e band of , Piedes who had just ret~r.ned ••••,. ; ' .. ' ~--------~------~--.__._.___ _ .. , '•!, ' , f'!, '. !rHE TYPE CF MF.N INVOLVED. . then or . and you will find them ~eneral ly law loving Higbee: Hunt tHAM up now le t:tri.zens , farmers , stock raisers , honorab , leadin~ , and law abidin~ merchan ts, miller, Rnd lRwyers . ( What I mean, they were not robbers or murdere rs or men of violenc e) HOW 'I'Hen? The s~irit of the tines: MMM p. 25 the annroac hin~ army, the qeter~i nation to resist George A. Smith's desc. of Activit ies in the South in ... ' The Part cf the IndiRns p 27 in Arrived we hen W Conosh. vot, TutsaRa as chiefs the Jacob Hamvlin n 8mea Chief. Mormon great Yollng, the p;ham Rri see to went them of SLC there were ten l Journal >fist -'Sent 1 savs Jc1cob Hamblin Ftnd 12 chiefs, Also Ktmosh and Ammon, Walker 's brother . BRIGHAM YC'UNG HIMSELF gav~ then Kanosh the P1wc1unt chief with · several of his b,rnd vifij_ted l1lf' ion possess A snirit seems to he takeing so~e council and present s, of the Indians to assj_st Israel. I can hardly restraif u them from extermi nciting the America ns. After it was over G8rland Hurt, the Indian Ft p;ent, sent one Pete, en -,,:-:--- ----- -------~---,- ~-. ---~ -~----------:----~- --~--"' ,_' 'j (• MM1"'l LOCA'l'ION & IIJDIANS says 150 yards; Nephi Johnson: should be 750. "After marching along for some time ••• p. 170 Rig-bee: "V/hen they had passed Clinp.;ensmi th' s comp,c,ny one fourth of a mile, women & children were sent up along the same road. After they had passed the same point about a half a mile p. 174 Daniel S. MacfP.rland: The IndianB will let them pass a half a mile or more ••• p ij~x 179 KlinponSmi tt: after said em~p;rants had r1arched ab-nut a half a mile toward Ceear City ••• 183 Georp-e A. Srrith, writinf- fror:i Parowan: p. 189 mile and 8 half after 'prcceeding abc1 ·t a Col Furt' s renort: 0n tb~ 17th Ix1urx:txx'e-t.- started an Indian ~oy, named Pete, whr flneaf':s enr.-lis h quite fluentlv hy r1 Fecret route, •.• went only to Ammon'R villa~e, in BPaver County, where he met jui=;t returned from IroB County .f., .I R l Rrf!;e band of ~ede s who hed Yf Sen Doc. 42: Tullis teRtifying, They proceeded about one and a hAlf mile toward Cedar •••• P. 199 Forney : where I saw ~raves or holed is at least one miie 2 a3d a half MCUN'l'AIN MEADC\"iS Firet English Descrintion: Fremont, May 12, 1844 ( established before 1805) . h.in b unc h grass, an d mountain rig ~We found here an extens1ve1meaao~, r reseh wm"th numerous snrin~s of clear water, all refreshin~ and deli~htful to look upon. It waF in fact that Las Veges de Santa Clara, whic~ had been so long presented to us as the terminRting point of the deseret, where the annual BXXK t' caravan from California to ~ew Mexico halted and recruited for S <•me weeks... by bordered long, miles ten some and wide, mile a about was The meadow grassy hills and mountains •••• Its elevation above the sea was 5.280 feet •••• its distance from w}1ere we first struck the Spanish trail four hundred miles. It was mentionea, and described by everyone who passed over it--who kept a record, talked of alonF the way, and constantly used as a XREXHf%XKK recupera ing place for ani.mRls after tLe long desert. / / Dr. Cooley, t-!r. I•rcrson, snd Fr"ends of the Utah Stdte Historical Society: I have called my little talk tonight JEST A 0.1:'YIN' --WO F' WORD because this was the apologetic sta tcuent of our loc~l ~uthority to his superior stete ~fficer as he explcic~ ~hat ~e ~ere doing. As custodian of federal funds in Washington County , he needed to give an account; thrifty nan, he did not wish to see money wasted. as a If ,.. e must collect these musty old thins , we should scan them carefully and take out only the pertinent items such as dates of birth , baptism, ordinations , marriage , and death, arrange them, and s~111llarize in orderly capsules the other events , so that they would be easily avail ble to genealogist s . word for word, seemed a needless waste. Just to copy them, "No one in the world will ever read them, except you and Nels Anderson," he said with scorn in his voice . This I will return to later . Perhaps I shouI.d take tioe here for a thuobnail sketch of my background, and the raasons why I have come to have such an intense feeling of the value of hand~writte n records, especially ones which are kept day by day. Most of you have already heard me tell--some of you many times -- of my discovery of the journal o•f my great-grand mother, Sarah Sturdevant Leavitt, and how I became so completely absorbed that I forgot y assignment entirely. I cannot over- state the impact of this record , its wrapping - paper pages, scissors cut and sewed together, its pasteboard backs covered cloth . prophet . ,;ith stitched-on Here was the real feeling of the people about the death of their Here also were characters I would meet again after many years and in -J -- many places: t Dr. Vaughan , Brother Gondi~, who was shot. by John Gheen, Peter Maughn, and others . During my 18th year, I borrowed the journal again and copied it word for word by hand into my moth£r's large record book, carefully preserving the spelling even when I knew it was incorrect. My second original record was that of John Pulsipher, which began when he was nineteen and continued throughout most of his life . s<Jmething really worthwhile . Here now was In the 1848 trek across the plains he drove the lead wagon in the first company. After his arrival he tells of various assignments , among them the Northern Indian Mission , the founding of Fort Supply, bii;.. service in the Ut h W.Jr , and his call to Dixie. This is so eloquent that :.nany historians have referred to it and quoted from it. the home of my first husband, Ernest Pulsipher. It was iJl Though l did not copy it at the time , 1 did read it and study it, and I had it copied for me and in my possession long before I became involved in the business of ·c ollecting. During these years I had also seen and read the diaries of Myron Abbott and Joseph I. Earl, both froo the Virgin Valley. After I had become a. wife, a. mother, and a widow in fifteen months . I decided to get my degree and make teaching in a high school or junior college my cc.reer. (Sene-d-ay I' 11 do a st:l'.5""ry entitled, on Illustrated,i~ c oulu be supreme y, s reamingly ~unny . ooe--stt±ng. I'll spare---you-that toni-gh. At last--in 1925- - 1 was fall to teach at !Hxie Co l eg~. al so new on the faculty. 11 Through-CoH-ege --tlA't"" raduated from the B.Y.U. and came the next J. Will Harrison and his wife, Gladys, we:-1 She used to ·say that there ,as certainly no band -:ut \ to greet us; in fact, she smarted some at the fact that we were ignored. - 2- She We had this in coi.unon, so we became fast friends with each other. did have a h~sband, so was eligible to be included in some of the local ladies' groups, but I don't think she was invited--at 1 st to the ones she would like to have joined. I early learned that there is no place My case was different. for a widow in Mormon society. Married groups have no need for an extra, and the youngsters do not want "old" company. i:ay 1 had But 1 didn't mind. son, and aiwaya .two or three brothers and sisters and cousins livina in my home. I was busy teaching classes in English and debate, so that ___ __, \. was more than occupied. I did have one wonderful _woman who sought me out, and with whom This waa Mabel Jarvis, who was 1 .i:aintained a lasting friendship. working at the telephone office in 1925, later w rked in the Court House ~, t.nd stil 1 later became a part of the Htstoriea.l Recoros Survey. " She had She was much sought afte given up marriage to care for her aged parents. by youngsters who had to make tributes on Ov-v'l---c:l U.""'-/VVIAYZ/ 1'- D11 Day; indeed, there was 11 scarcely a wedding, a missionary farewell, or a funeral without some of · the poetry of Mabel Jarvis. Perhaps her finest contributions were the pageants dealing with the early history of Dixie. was widely known a. Her father, Brigham Jurvis, Sr., a teller of tall tales, many of which remain folklore today. One night I called at the telephone office to wait until her shift was up, so that we might go together to a wedding reception. There I dis- covered. on the top of the roll-down desk, the four volumes of James G. Bleak's "History of the Southern Mission," Books A, B, c, and D. They were so large they looked like the crack of doom with St. Peter to open them. 3 The black 'lJ letters on t e back uere fully to inches tall on a white band. I needed only a few ~inutes to find th t the Bunkerville records were in Book C; at lea t the beginnings were. of ti and copied After that I went to her office a number ome interesting notes on my home town. Then during the University, lecturing to an ex- the spring of 1927 a young man fro tension class. stated that the villages on the Virgin River were certainly the most in-bred in the State, and perhaps in all the world. The prolific Leavitt families had doubled upon themselves until chey would be a During that sU111Der (1927) I did my valuable source for a group study. first attempt at reaearch in a study of the town of Bunkerville. using Books C/ and D/ extensively. While this ts not a pretentious work, it has preserved some early history. with charts of inter-marriages. It is important here only because I came to know these Bleak records -> so that later. when for many years they dropped out of circulation. I could still swear that they existed. in 1934. my brother, Franci Still later, at the University of Nevada, H. Leavitt, was doing his Master's Thesis on the ~iormon settlement in Clark County, Nevada. Bleak recor When I went to check the , they were gone from the telephone office, but I found them in the basement of the Temple. ~ Thes~-1925 to 1933--were happy, fruitful years, in the midst /) of which I took a leave of absence to earn my Master's Degree at Columbia University. Some of you remember the depression of the early 1930 1 s and the sweeping actions of resident franklin D. Roosevelt's "First 100 Days," as he tried to set the wheel of industry turning again. 4 I was not conscious of Y I The FERA acts--the Federal F.laergency Relief Act of March 31, 1933, or of the Federal Faergency Relief Administration of May 12 fo ll owing. These put federal money into every state of the union. Marineer S. Eccles was in Washington, D.C. working on this. and since he knew that Utah had a high population on low incomea, he saw to it that we received a generous ahare. The money was dispursed under. WPA, PWA, CWA, etc. . l ' h ~ streets. roadB;-d-i-,tcheJh __wate sy_s.tesu, --garbage--:d sposa , all of w ~3i1,,11u.- employment _for _men and boys. cb:- - - By the late summer of 1933 Washington County had received some FERA aoaey, but none had reached the widow and her f&Uily, or other unemployed WOlllen. To Mr. Nels Anderson mast go the credit for initiatina this collecting and copying project. I bad married the Brooks family in May 1933. That fall Nels came with his wife, his son Hartin, and a secretary. His f8Jllily took lodging on the aaJJle block with as, just around the corner and the second houae by sidewalk, and kittern through by a shorter trail from his back door to mine. Mr. Brooks was still Sheriff Brooks. the man who knew every person in the county. Many of the citizens of St. George remembered Nels as the little hobo who in 1908 had been kicked off a freight car in the long, empty stretches of Nevada, who found bis way to the ranch of Lyman Wo<>d in Cbover Val l ey, and was taken in as one of the family. the Mormon In 1909 he was baptized into l ~ ~~~~~ 'tt¢o-~ ~-zx-~ Church; later he ttended. Dixie C llege and went Hd to the where he waa graduated in 1920. BYU • Now in 1933 he returned with a grant-in- aid from the Soeial Science Research Council and one from the Social Science Council of Col umbia University. These were to help him co l lect material for a book to be written on The Last MoI'DlOn Frontier. It appeared as Desert Saints in 1942. Nels found Sheriff Brooks a valuable source of information, especially in social matters like the part the wine industry had played in Dine, the DeLamar Dust victims, the social regulations of the dances, and numerous other things. I had already had copies of the two diaries I have mentioned and knew of tlle contents and whereabouts of the basic histories of James G. Bleak. As his work progressed, Nels wanted me to backgrou amily and write an article on polygamy as I experience my parents. do it, ab.o ut to I had finished, Nels was not sa lsfied. 11 Make less formal, 11 he told me. sational style a 11 ust take an easy, conver- don't be too concerned with statistics. other Bring i,:1 you can.u had been ae acting Postmaster in St. George. Nels stopped at the office to sa/2oodbye, wrote bis name and addreas on a piece of paper, and I ord for me to forward the article as soon as it waa finished. Will said he woulc:l tell me, I pocket, and pr0111pt1y / forgot it. lipped the address into his shirt By t e time it had run through my Maytag washer and wringer, it was compl~~ly illegible. / Now with this second draft of my polygaiJly story finished, I had no place to send it. While I waited for Nels to get tired of waiting I mailed it to Harper's Magazine. To ay surprise,\~ey accepted it it appeared in the issue of February 1934. ------- ------- - -6 write to enquire, l As nearly as I can tell now, a letter fro• Nels dated November 1, 1934 marks the inception of the idea that collecting diaries and original manuscripta might be done under a goverrunent project. l quote: It occurs to me that you should initiate a white eollar work project for the unemployed in your area. Better still you might have a study project for the students who are now receiving goverrunent aid. In my way of thinking there is no better way of using students than in the gathering of historical documents. Let us call it a collection of Dixiana. Here are some of the subjects that should be included: Documents, pictures and original materials concerning Dixie places, i ,n cluding Silver Reef. All kinds of stories that people can remember about the Reef. Good and bad stories. Even the fictions and myths ahould be gathered. Each should be written and filed away. You have already gathered a lot of autobiographies of the pioneers and I have read many of them, but too many of them are worthless. They strive to convey messages. If one could add to these stories about people and places and actual events. The closest approach to a good one was the little book of John S. Stucki. Pictures should be reproduced in every case where owners want to keep the originals. Letters should be collected and preserved. The old Church records and the Town records should be gathered together and preserved. Old songs (good and bad) should be written down with music. l am sending a copy of this to Dr. Dorothy Nyawander of the Unive~sity of Utah, who is also in charge of women's projects in the Relief Administration of Utah. l hope she can help get the thing started. Sincerely, Nels Anderson ;1,_ As a result of his letter to Dr. Nyswander of the University of Utah, I had a letter from her dated November 10, in which she gave the 7 idea her approva l, and passed it on. " . . . . . l would aQggest that you talk over this project immedia tel y with the County Manager of the Relief Adminis • tration of Washingto n County, who has his office in St. George, to see ~hether or not he would believe it feaaible to carry through a project which has so uch of social , _ and peraane nt value ••• " lLetter dated November 10, 1934. Dept of Psycho l ogy, Univers ity of Utah, signed Dorothy Bird Nyswande,!/ I took her advice. The lll.8Jl in charge of the FERA funds was Mr. willia111 O. Bentley , who was also Stake Freaide nt. Since I had been made Stake Preaikn t of Relief Society an 19 Septemb er 1933, we were both conscio us of the needs of s0111e of our families . nections he aet up, I do not know. bedroo~ ren Whateve r up-atate con- I know only that I offered my guest free as a place to work. lt had an outside door, so that workers co~l d coma and go without diaturbi o,g our family privacy and was spacicas enough- -witb the rug and all the furnitur e out. ~e put in a l ong table, aQ!le typewri ters, a aanuscr ipt file, and a small table at which I could work, and. were in busines s right away. ReJllelllber that this was strictly a relief project to make work for families in despera te need. Women who could type or who had daughte rs who could were set at copying diaries . Others were sent out ,t o take intervie ws with the older people of the areas. They were instruct ed to get the importa nt dates of birth, travels, marriag e, position s held, and &oAOn. and to fi ll in with details of home management on the frontier , social activiti es, importa nt events. They were to encourag e reminisc ences, impres.s ions of visiting church leader.a , of local leaders, of the polygamy eaids, of anything in which the informa nt was interest ed. They would take aotes, write them up as best they could, return to visit the person and l'ead what they had written , supplea ent or change the story as needed, and 8 \ I finally bring it to us to be typed in a preliminary form befol\e we 111;ade 1\ the final copy with carbons. ·\ ~\th Not all of these were literary 11lQ.,s terpieces, but collect.i \~~ly they did form a good base of local history, and the wages--$30.00 a to begin with, later raised to $32, and then to $36. were a 11-teral,\ G\cs-send. I collected the diaries. We announced .i n a general Stake ~on~rence I that this project was beginning, -t hat if people who had diaries ol>r oth~.,,r original records in their possea8ion would bring them in, we woul they free of cbarg,e and retui::n the origin,al and a copy to the !t, 1,. In \ and ,\ ) Ji I ,,\ lowed\ leads in all parts of the county and into lrDn County as well. t~ \--- 11 ,\ On'.\one occasion I was tt"aveling with Vivian Leavitt Palmer, who was in connected with a government program in Cedar City. I , I ownTr. every case 1 received the original, gave the owner a receipt for · returned it in pe-rson with a typed copy i.n a manilla folder. copy\ way 1' , We were going ~o\ Virgin, \ t I in search of a reported manuscript, she to visit several f .a .milies. \ Just before we entered the town we had to croas the Virgin River. f It wasn; I \ I \ exactly in flood, but the water was far too high to lrive a car into. :/ ~~\, \. sat on the bank and considered; finally, not willing to go back now tha' \ \ we were here, 1 pulled off my shoes and stockings and waded aero&&, the}¾ water above my knees in 1j li followed suit. ) I J Fully dressed, we walked into town. I found the home I was looking for, knocked, gave ,i:ay name andpmy reason f ,o r coming to the woman who answered the door. ii After a little hesitation,: ViviJ \ ome places. ;' She seemed not to comprehend quite just what l was after. ( "Who did you say you wu.z?" she asked .. 9 I . ui-m Will .Brooks's wife--Sheriff Brook , from St. George/ 1 l explained. "Why didn 1 t you aay that in the first place?u she wanted to know, holding out her hand. ncQllle right in, come right in. Anything I can do for Sheriff Brook•'• wife, I'm aore than glad to do. 11 From that day on., I always introduced ayaelf as the wife of Will Brooks, and alw ya had a wat'lll reception. We found a great deal more aatertal than I would have thought existed.. Again Nels proved helpful. ,, He wrote through the list of\ officials \ I aalc.ing to borrow my carbons for study as source material in hia}research, ,, until finally Dr. Luther H. Evana of the Library of Congres.s learned of I our project and asked me to send copiea of all I had done to him. Be waa ,ao illtpreased that he cal led a state-wide maeting to be held at Salt Lake City for July 10_11. 1936. I was aeked to attend~ He had I brought with hill the results of our work, and had conceived the idea of enlarging upon it. ln the meantime, the Feder l Writer•• project had been .started in Colorado and, I believe, in Ut h, but its purpoa.e was (/,;. ' l ·~ C;AU;fNv ½- hf-.. ' .·1 , differenct. lour project was expanded to becom · the Histori~ Reco~a ,, Survey. ;. \ In setting this into 110tion, many p/pl~ were evidently asked for auggeationa. Dr. Evans had prepared a queadpnnair-e of a number [\ \ of questions upon which we were ask-1 to give our/ .,~ pinions. answer to estion I I quote my I o. 3, which bad to do with p,i~~tely-owned diaries, !\ \ because it is still my feeling on. the subject: I / " ••. I think that wherever possible the ~u\acri~t (a privatelyowned diary) should be copied in 1ta ent rety and then indexed. ' I I ahoul d oppose taking exceppt.a froa it becsµse is not fair to either the writer or the reader. It assu•es that the judgment ,1, of on person is sufficient to detenaine ia of value. For I 10 / 'f,1\ \ example: in 1812. I have secured the journal of Esias Edwards,_ rn It is without a back nd quite difficult to read. 1 might just list it, but that wou.ld be of no value whatever,/ c-, w"'\ because the ownera w.ould not let everyone have access to it, l.: and even if they did, the handwriting is so difficult that few people would go through it without being aamred trust it contained facts in which they were interested. A few handlings and the book would be all to pieces. • i}-~ Suppose I were to take excerpts from it. If I were interested in ~rly poet.ry. I sho11ld copy the few verses which it contains; if religiously inclined, I might select the cases of healing a which it records. Or 1 might want the story of the arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, or the Indian troubles at Tooele, or the arrival of Johnston'a Army, or the difficulties of living polygamy, or any one of a dozen or aore other subjects. it. Unless it can be copied, it is of little use to even mention The owners cannot afford to have it done, and the book is C _ ? lost unless it is d.one ••• " f (J. Brooks to Dr. Luther H. Evans, April 11, 19 36 in answer to hia of March 28, 1936.) From that day to th1a, my policy has been to copy, word for word, without deleting anything. that in?" I can only an.aver, When family lllellbers •ay, "Why did you put 11 1 didn't put it in. I left it in. 0 With the organization on a atate level, its headquarter& at Ogden. 1 was relieved of my responsibility. My letter to Dr. Evans dated April 20, 1937, says that I aa being released, and, after request- ing that copies of the diaries of Eaiaa Edwards, Myron Abbott,_ Levi M. Savage, and Levi Savage Sr. be returned, goe• on to give •Y evaulation of the work: We bafe done •ome forty such records under this project, some of them very valuable history, 1 think, in addition to the work on the County and Church records. I feel that it has been worthwhile, and baa fully ju.atified the expenditure. While much remains to be done, I am glad for this start, as many of these would never have been preserved otherwise. The work bas also be:en IDOSt interesting ••• 5 (J. Brooks to Luther B. Evans i\pril 20, 1937) 11 C ) At though I was ••out", I still remained active in locati.Dg a,nd sending in diaries; in feet, I considered myself as a Quon.ta of One to fol Jow up any lead that l found. The staff in our ax:-ea was now limited to only thre.e or four, and of thera, Mabel Ja.rvis,continued long after the others had found aore lucrative employment. She was the local correapondent to the Salt Lake Tribune, and as a part of her other assignments she did short histories of every settlement in the. county, of every L.D.S. Ward in the St. George Stake,. which extended at that ti!M!! to inc l ude all the southern Nevada se.ttlementa. Mally of her stories of historic buildings, celebrat1.ons, and obituaries are preserved. Duri~ the nut .years I bedaae acquainted with !)ale L. Morgan, who aore than any other person influenced my wor.k and my thinking. I had been interested in doing a biography of Jacob Hamblin, hut my father ordered me to do one of hla father, Dudley Leavitt, instead. "Everybody talks about Jacob ilamblin.*' he Mid• "but my fl\ther va• with hita en his hardest expeditions, and when he had one too ha.rd, he sent Dudley Leavitt and Ira Hatch to do it. Th.at was the trip to Las Vegas when they both nearly lost their lives." He reminded me that, as the Jacob Hamblin group were returning from their- first mission to the Indians across the Colorado. it waa Dudley Leavitt 11bo had sacrificed. hia bor•e that the 1116n 1Righ.t have food. Caaped. ia the snow at Pipe Springs, they faced literal starvation. ~ Dudley's family bad lived on the frontier and moved so 80 any time• that he had/ little scho.oling that he could hardly sign his name. This was al l the more reason why his story ~hould be written. 12 I had been trained to obey my father; I did so now, working at the manuscript between home duties and carrying it, a chapter at a time, through the bock to the local printer. I was not especially proud of it at the time, though I did collect some good folkrore from all the living children, the laet one of who died a few months ago. Since that time I have found new material about my grandfRther, some pertinent references to him and some accounts of his activities which make me feel that I should like to rewrite the story which appeared in the small volume 1n 1941. In the eantime, I had become a pen-pal of Dale Morgan. e exchanged lonp- letters on a number of subjP.cts, and from t he first he •ftounded me with the scope of his knowledge, with his exact and precise and unerring t'lemory. It was as tt he had a photographic mind which stored neatly eYery scrap of information and promptlJ brought it forth upon demand. A never-to-be-forgotten experience mornin s when I et an early ap ointment with him at Cedar City and drove with him over the Old S-panish Trail route to the Mountain Meaoowe. marked at that time; The ror.d wee not we became lost in the mazes of the Lytle corrals, and finally had to come back to St. 81Drge take us back to the place. and get my husband to e had both been there in 1932, when the present monument was dedicated. The next day Dale and I went through the settlements up the Vir in River toward Zion Park, but from Rockville we took the pioneer . . -., road to the top of the plateaJ, Springs visited the Canaan Ranch, Pipe and located the site of the Berry massacre near Short Creek, the earl7 Maxwell Springe area. The old cottonwoods along the sandy This trip r>ut new meaning to my reading of the early history of this area. I had already known of Hamblin' s first tripe there, and as I began working on the John D. Lee material , I was led over this terrain Many times. A third significa nt trip with Dale waa down 0.7 91 to the point where the Old Mormon Trail intersec ts it, about of a mile above the Utah-Ariz ona line. US ~e had timed it perfectl y; the ..,.______s_traight v1hite line stretched to the horizon clear enou h to photogra P(.":' .. Not only was Dale stimulati ng and helpful nd critical (as et ! ' • times he had to for me. be) l I but it was he who opened the next door of oppo~~un ity He was living in Arlington , Virginia, doing re1earcb in tbJ Among hi• good friends was Darel McConki.e, who ~ , , t _ ~ cj ~~Vl...c-\..t ~,(..,t~ bad employ:aen.t i~i Waahingt:on, D.C. In late January, 1944, Dale wrote Library of Congreas. that Darel had attended a party the night before, at a home there in Arlington , whet'e the secret. supposedl y carefully guarded, was whispered : 0 The Henry E. Huntingto n Lib~ary has purchased from the descendan ts of Co l . William Nelson the diaries of John D. Lee. sum. They paid a fabulous Exact amount unkno n. 11 Dale suggested tha.t I write the library telling them 1 understoo d that they had acquired the diaries of John D. Lee., and asking if I 111ight see them if I were to c·ome down. The answer.same with amazing p'!l0111ptn.esa. It made no .reference to my question, but aa;aured me that they did have a copy of the tutim.ony at the John D. Lee trials, which was open to scholars. "There are other reasons why we should like to have you visit our libra:ry," he wrote, and added that he bad seen y little book on Dudley Leavitt, and that bis family was connected by marriage. In less than a week 1 was facing the first footman at the Henry E. Huntingto n Libraey. The pas• Mr. Bliss had sent m,e gave instant permissio n 14 \' \ ct., ( f:_ 'I"' tr ~tvv. Jk 4rk_. ~ I 10 h -rne 1 :-f ~- .,-n\.V Ov-V~ Ar -----yyvVVl.,t--tfu ,,, y-va/4 W-etA o"°~eumiae the Lee Diariea, upon condition that I should not aention the ,I fact that they had th~ • I was appointed to act a• a ttField Fellowt• for them in the collection of Mormon materials~ Thus the door of opportunity was opened for me. I've often said that "Heaven is doing what you would be glad to do for nothing and getting paid for it. 11 I still think that is true. For the na& four year• we had a faaily project. Mr. Brooks was Even the children became invo l ved with aa interested in it as I was. the Henry W. Bigler Diary, which had been used aa a acrap book, each page fully and carefully pasted over with recipes, sentimental poems, fashions or auggeationa. At first eight I said, "l cannot read a aealed book," but then we pt"oceeded to un-seal it a page at a time. blades and kitchen knives. and at last settled OA We tried razor steaming towels. How excited we would be aa we peeled of the newapapers and the purple ink came through bright and clear, the account of Bigler'• trip south with the Jefferaon Hunt party of '49rs, many of whoa gave De4th Valley its So. page by page we read. ;•it, until even the children becaJDe. name. . ~-v•~~ inter•at(ld, while Mr. Brooks wee ei wrapped up in the projec~ This Field Fellow appointment was really a rich experience for us all. "We trust your integrity; we trvst your judgment," Dr. Cleland told me. "We know that you cannot hit pay dirt every time, ·but if you know of a document anywhere in these United States that you think is worth going after, feel free to go for it." I began by retracing seen. steps to gather the originals I had already This business of having them preserved as they were, with clear photographs, sometimes enlarged~or easier reading, seemed as a blusing ; from heaven. As a beginning, I gave in my own Grandmother's 15 Diary, the one which had so impressed me as a child., and accepted in Teturn this photographic reproduction securely bound. 1 want. I carried it with me wherever Then came the descendants of Martha Cox. whoae wonderful record each wanted in the original. The Library, at my suggestion that it m.igh.t be good publicity, sold them copies for $25.fO each. This program.. however, could not be continued. l?eople were ,s o pleased with thi• arrangement that they passed the ord around. One of my best unpaid agents waa Brother Jalnes Blackbum., whose grandfather, an early Bishop of Provo, had kept a large and clearlywritten ledger. So happy waa be with the copt that he took it under hia arm ton different ward each month on Testimony Day and used it as a ft7v gather the items 1 had used juat ten years earlier. So many had dis- appeared--the owners. some of them dead, the children., aost of them indifferent. 0 After \-le got the nice typewritten copy, we didn't care s.o 1DU-ch about the other one. It was so ragged and hard to read. wh-ere it did go," one lady told me. I don't know Again and again when I aaked for a record, they brought out the typewritten copy I had made under the FERA program, and when I insisted that l was interested only in the original, they wou l d look et each other and ask, nWhatever DID happu. to that? Did Henry' s wife take it? Or was it Minerva 7u Thought! was bitterly disappointed at the loss of these, I was grateful for the fact that copies were preserved, imperfect tho~gh thay were. For me, the photographic reproduction• have been so wonderful. ..-h .. "~• ~n The o,o back to the ~tual handwriting clears up s.o many things, for 1Mlv.J.--(.,Ol1,, though the typed ver..,;~~ ..s made 4$ ex.act as possible, there ie· no way to see the. stanifie.a.nce of the sentence evtd.e&\tly inaerted betw~ the linea,, of the correc.tion.a made by the writer himaelf, 4omet.lmes the penmanlhip._ which looked like one word to you befoi-e,, but now stands out clearly aa another. For•• the existence of a. photqgraphic copy Jtitv£..lt/t'\., to vhicb I can.,_ 1a a constant reaas11rance. For a good part of this progra l waa tied up with the BYU tbroug_h Profeu-ora M. WUford Poulaen a.Pd N. 1.. Butt.. Stnc.e Huntington Libi-ary f!ou1d .I.not affoni to give free photostata., I carried with ae a sample of I wanued the owneT chat: i .t would take •ome time to :g at this eopy.t_ng done !nit that. the origlnal would be safe et BYU until it was finillhed.., and then l would retur11 it. for al 1 thi• work. one eoncemed. B-eat of all., there would be ao charge Thia prog~ baa been a 11to-nderf11l advaatege to eve~- J This project led naturally to a grant fot: me to atudy the Mountain Meadows Massac.we., the reault of wh1¢b was the heok by that title which appeared la 1950. There were a number of interesting developm-enta in connect.ion with that. work. 1 kn-ew that Professor WUUa. J. Snow ;had been commanded to leave tha subject al®• and t.hat Dr. L. R.. HafeA had eai-lJ learned al.-o that here was foi-bid«ien grou.od. So I made no mention of the fact that I wa• doing research on the aubject--I waa ju.st: interest,e d in the hiatory of South~ Utah during its earU.e•t years,. and in tha li'v•a of the men who he l ped to shape that - hiatocy. The Diarie.s of Christopher J. Arthur, of Isaac C. Haight, of Jesse N. Saith were of great .s.ignificancer I learned of the existence of othera, poaaibly even 17 ilOre relevant, which I have not yet been abl• to secure. 1 had great re.apect and love for P1WSid:ent Heber J. Grant. bu.t I knew hi.a aenaitivity on thu aubject. and how he 'had gone in person to Phoenix to protut the .naa.ing of the bridge at Marble Canyon. did not want thaiMllrted "The Lee'• He Ferry :Bridge'' he<:auae he did not want that 111.aJ\'s nue·perpetuated. For many re&IOO• I said nothi,-g of the projec~ upon which I waa working., not even to ay family and close ftiend•. 1 had alre«c:ly leaaied that what they did not kaow about, they would not question :me about or diacusa with anyone else. I shall not go into detail on thia project, more than to aay that the book was £1.Aally published by Stanford Vnivarait.y pr•••• through the efforts of Dr. Wal lace Stegner. An advance order fr0111 Mias Et.tie Lee of Here one thouaand copiu with check enclosed speeded up the proc.... again I au.st acknowledge the help and encou_rageraent of Dale L. Mnrgan, who, in loag lettua. di-acuaaed with • the different aoglea. Then, as he had given~• the initial impetus by learning of the exiatence of the Lee Diaries .. so he gave ae at the close the aoat isportan~ item in the whole book--the lettex- from William C. Mitchell. naaea of all ...bera of the Arkauaa Company. Thia provided. the Dale bad found the handIt written original aaong the papers of the Indian Agency for Utah. bad arrived in WashiAgton,, D.c. too late to be included in Senate Docwaent 42. •o had been .alipped 1n among the original papers. It came to ae after the book vaa in the pTesa. eo I bad to add U as a footnote to Chapter Three. Aa soon as the Mountain Meadow Maaaaere appeared, the Historical 18 Society of Arkansas aent a representative to the Library of Congrus to verify this letter. Thia 11 in turn~ resulted in. their building a monument on the Courthou,e ground• at Barri.soil, Arkan•••• and sending me an invitation to attend the dedicatory aervicea. atory. Thia. too. ia another I felt tha~to repreae.nt the murderers in that situation waa a great chall-ae, indeed. but the people treated me with reapect. The man in charge, Mr • .J. Kenner Fanchei:, wa-a a Christian gentleman, with whom I formed a deep and la.sting friendship. He paaaed away a few Atontha ago. With thia book out• and hia own,. "This R.ecklua Breed of Men on the pt"U-J, r. Cleland waa ready to edit tn11 John D. Lee Di.ariea. BQt be had waited too long. The work wa, scarcely under way when he auffered a atrok.a. His scretary. Mrs. Wiani&ed W. Gregory. carried on, and be directed as he could from his wheel chair. Alway• an. advocate of copying "word for word", 1 now ·aaw thia put into practice with scrupulous care. Not OPly did the expert typists at the Henry E. liunt.ington aak• their copin word-perfect, but line-perfect, alao, •o that the cow could be coapared with the original quickly and accurately. My chief bu.aineaa at first waa to compare the typeseript to thefphotograph, enlarged for easter -readiag. a• "bauneatt intended to be haimu; I recognized auch words I knew the fello••• the king-bolt, the_s~ the si.Agle-treu and double!!:!!,. It took my husband to explain that •haunts of berriea aean a great abundance, and manatber as corresponding top10rae•• a herd of cattle, flock of sheep. covey of quail, hive oj l>eea, etc. I well kaew the meaning of unboalted flour and smutty flour and uns.alteci ~ . of a burr mill compared to a roller iaiU. way I waa familiar with many frontier folkways. 19 In the same In regard to differing Q;~ r ~p.. interpretations, I remember that in -Ollii record an inserted parenthesis in pencil had been interpreted (went to seed ator, to buy). knowing this I aaw it as (went to ••ea atove to buy) and Without by checking and by noting that the date waa in January and there was snow, I decided that the latter was correct. i-it The item tells also that stoves were YI~ ava1labled and that be might be able to buy one. In transcribing these diaries, there is always the problem of the puactua.tion or lack of it. Much may be said in favor of dividing the sentencea by placing in periods and capital letters where they belong, or Yet I t have found so aany tiJnes when where it aeema that they belong. the meaning was COlllpletely changed that! have come to the point where I leave it oU;t unless it is placed in brackets. You : have all heard examples whet'e punctuation has been mis-read, as "What do you, think? I will shave you for nothing and give you .a drinkl" which vas punctuated. as "What 1 Do you think l will shave you £or nothing and g1 ve you a driok ?f' Truly the punctuation 1s a& important ae the worda; sometimes it is more iaportant. l think of SOJDe of the. lists of names where no eomaaa have aeparated them. Thia poau a problem where the typist muat stop and take time to separate and identify each, inserting the bracketed COl1llla between. I am particularly emphatic in instating that nothing be oaitted. The re&earcher ha• a right to see the -COlllplete manuscript. In bis use of it., be may delete as be pleases. ainee much will not be pertinent to his work. One writer will cut an item that is of supreme iaportanc:e to 20 Paul Cheuman in writing of Joseph Smith's account recorded by Alexander Neibau.r, uaed a very short tw-~ excerpt, and did not mention,( that the story waa being to l d to one Mr. Bonney. I had been looking everywhe:r• for this man, Bonney, so that tkis had a special significance for me. I copied the entire esitry for the day, line perfect and word perfect from the original and thought it lllUCh OlOre ea1phatic than the .hortened and punctuated one of Mr. Cheesman. Then, as l said before, I found in thia source an item of great value to ~e that ea.nt nothing to hi~. I have often told the incident of our work in the FE , when the girl who w s copying the d.iary of Myron Abbott came to open rebellion: u1 wish you would give me something elae to copy. thia, 11 she said. 11 l ' m sick and tired of 1 can -well balieve this whale project is just a waste of go•rermaent !QOney, if this is the kind of thing we are tryiQg to save. This aan does nothing but work on the dam. \;p brush and rocks that are put in the dam. " weeks now. He tells eve-cy day abo11t the Ditto. ditto• ditto, for two Then an entry or two about other thing&, nd now tae dam is gone again and the ditch broke in fifty-two places. 11 She had her point. Myron Abbott wast~ weter-maater,whose business it was to record the work on t e dam. A few years after the- copy was made., a govermaent engineer told me that this little record wa · worth its weight in go~d. a had found. the only real history of tne Virgin iver that anyone ThoUigh it covered only a few y-eara, it did give tangible and e..ccur.age proof of the flood& of that tLae. Truly "one manr& Dta&t is another man 1 s poiaon.n What a blessing it is that now we no l onger must copy these on a typewriter, but may have 1 good as the origina. XeTOlt or photoatatic copiea made,which are aa W1.· th .these ava.ifable, resear'ch~ t'akes--en- a••\.1-lml.e new dimensio n. There ia no need to argue about what was written , when the actual handvi-i ting ia reproduc ed. But the research scholar still has challeng e. person who wrote the manuscr ipt was in el:'ror. Ptrrhapa the If it were done years after the event, there i~ always the possibi lity of u.ninten tional dis- Perhap• you have seen, aa I have, stories grow by retellin g. tortion. One case 1n point t• the account of John L. Ginn .of his trip through Utah soon after the raasaacr e at the Mo\lD.tain Meadows. Ha insist.a that he was with the firat company over the ground after th.e tragedy , yet in a letter publiab -1 in the Val l!Y I!!!, we learn that he did not leave Salt Lake City until November 6, and travelin g with a wagon train, could aot have arrive.cl there before late No•eiaber. more than two &Ad a helf aontha aft4Ut' the maasacr e. ,r-Vv/- c· ') Bef:D-Jre thi.a time • -• 11«1 othe-r' peopde had written descrip tions. of diaa.embere.d bbdiea and scattere d bones, with many wolves at their ghastly work. Ginn declared that "none of the bodies had been mutilate d or di•figul: 'ed by decay, the weather being cold, with a patche• of aoow on the ground ... few The bast answer to his account ia found on the laat page where he declaru that: The foregoin g constitu te the chief incidot s of interea t that caae unde.1:' my persona l observa tion durillg ay eventfu.1 trip across the. contine nt in that trqic year of 18S7, as rs of a ba.sy life I recall them to memory after fort -si t.n the;hope that em present I and r, frontie on the Pacific foregoin g the read who all tt their pera.aal may inter.r l My p. 53 ~f typeacr ip!/ contenti on ia that the person handling an origina l documen t is honor-bound to reproduc e it accurat ely, whether he thinks it is true or .not. 11 He Dlay bracket hia opinion& at the end, but not c;hange by any jot nor tittle" the work of the author,. for tbia aanuscr ipt may be used hy many p-eople searchin g for differen t facts .. 22 eapeciall y auapiciou a of the t.nree dots •• . • and so on, aa 1 u my dictionar y interpret& them. They are ao indefinit e; one never knowa I shall never forget the shock. which how auch deletion they represent . I felt when I read the whole of the John incy article so often quoted; "lt ia by no means improbabl e that aODle future text-book for the uae of question something like thia: 'What generatio ns yet unborn will contain historica l Aiae-rican of the nineteent h c~tury has exerted the moat powerful It s01.ulda a• if influence llpon the deatinies of hia countryme n?' •.. " he were ready for inatant baptiaa. Yet I by the same U!le of these three dot• placed at the beginning 1 it could read that the writer thought the Mormon• were all demented, chedfu.ll y wad. like the inmates of a mental hospital he had recently visited-. Likewise, I \ 8Pl I troubled. by a Mormon schol ar·, who will declare as a docwaent which be ad auprio ts bas been accepted at: --e r for valu. ac--' quote a statem which would t three paragqaph s bey throw ~i011s doubts over bia whole , thesis. -'¼v ~ ~ . . , ~ J I The problem is .___ ;.--- hat aettiAg out to PROVE a point. only material which will/4pp ort the theaia should be : •• Speaking again of the work of raproducii ,.g the manuscri pt.. I find that the copyist auat also use her reasoning in the use of dates. think of an example 0£ my own. I In copying the account of John M. Higbee-- signed Snort, we found a clear and accurate- narrative , with the euct wording of the 0 0rders 1' which he himself had carr-ted to Lea. There followed a discussio n of reasons why the men who had been innocentl y drawn into this could not @tand trial. ~, Clearly the article was written ianediate ly after the first trial of John D. Lee. The story fills eighte en pages erate , the of an ordin ary note book; the handw riting is clear and delib the hyste ria wordi ng studie d. This man blame s the appro aching army for the M0rmons to which spread throug hout the Terri tory, which arouse d all Indian s were arm and drill and sing battle songs . Acc ording to him, the all the more intl med, t>.np;ry nd ea er tor reveng e for wrong s they had He may not have known --he did not mentio n if it chief s· north he did, that Jacob Hambl in had taken ten or twelve Indian f ered at Holde n. Journ al Histor J with him for a confe rence with Presid ent Brigha m Young . The !s diary repor ts t heir being there on Septem ber 1st, and Brigha m Young carrie s this very si nifica nt entry for the same date: visite d mee gave them some counc il and prese nts A spiri t seems to be takein posse ssion ot the Indian s to assis t Israe l I can hardly restra in them from exterm inatin g the Ameri cans ening ; Higbe e says the Indian s were out ot hand, angry and threat of the variou s messe ngers and quote s verba tim the order s Kanos h the Pauarnnt chief with sever al of his band he tells order s which be himse lf carrie d from Isaac C. Haigh t to John D. Lee-riting . from the Col. Cornri.anding, illiam H. Dame, in his on handw ed to The story is told in all its horro r. The recen t trial is referr g of the as being manned by t 1 irres rinsib le hoboe e" who knew nothin But the date at the end t to say is clear ly 1894 • Every person who ha.s seen it has been promp Vi e left that is right , even with a magni fying glass the same is true. condi tions. it. It all rings true to the times . In this we erred . date. 'kkR e should have follow ed with LJ.87!,I the true In som~ hat the same way, in tne Diary of Thmmy Gordo n rical Quart erly :rubli shed in the S ring 1967 issne of thP- Utah .S t te Histo One needs the oistan ce betv.e en the two grAve s is given as 150 yards . With the excep ti, only to be on the ground to see that here· is an error , inR alon g for of Nephi Johnso n who in his accou nt said, "Afte r march about a half some time ••• " All other s used the term a halt a mile, Eithe r Tom y exnec ted tow-r ite 15lj&x a mile, a halt a mile or more ~'+' 750 yards or 150 rods, both ot> ;1hich wou ld be a little lesR t h$ n the half mile stipula t ed by all other re porters. I use t hese to show only that no ma tter how vi gil ent we try to be, ~e can not avoid some errors. I wa s askPo to te.lk tonight ahcn,t some of my experience s and contri~1t ions in the field o f collectin and preserving manuscript s. The temptation l as been strong to describe in diltictual items which have brough t into focus sorne of our early practices- -like quoting Geor ge Laub on the Law of Adoption, or Oliver B. Huntin g ton on t he activities of his brother Dimick in the Dani te Band, or Sohn Pulsiphe .r on the winter ~t,- or George W. Bean o n the . l~th of July A celebration in La s tegas. Inste~d, I have chosen to try to express my ge neral philosol)hy in the handling these reco r<ls . Like Carlyle, I want to see each t adily an<l see it whole. I want to preserVP the author's campaign agains t Jonnston•s army, p e rsona lity, his experience s, his con t ributions. a uerson a s we11 as a R.idnt. I want to s ee him as I WRnt to pass on his contributio n honestly, so thet ethers of the future may make their internrete tions from an ~t:S't reproducti on. ~~J- L I have marl~ only a small beginning myself, but li raries If the procedure is th ju s t to copy, ori gina l, and and then honestly J taking materia ·- ont of con t xt to prove 'l'hese shall be fortunate o ai,; ,,ell. s t and to sla e it H.j. r records. ··.e and I have tried , as I went along , to ackno wledg e the help encou ragem ent of my famil y and my rnnny frien ds. I must ado to the ng an artic le list Dr. A.P. Morte nsen , who first goade d me into writi of the Quar terly , on the r.outh flrn Utah Parks for the Sam.mer 1952 issue to work at and lc1t:er persu ar1ed me to leave Dixie Colle ge and come es of Hosea the Histo rical Socie ty headq u~rte re, edj_ti ng the diari the Dixie ~tout --end then set me to do the Cente nnial Issue of d. The follo wing Cotto n Missi on . I owe Dr. Morte nson ferymm-ohh indee him, Dr. F.ver ett Coole y who• •• perm itted me jo finis h the S~out recor de and hee ~iven me const ant encou ragem ent. ts tar Over and above ffvery thing else, I am grate ful thAt even much of my work: the away and not of my makinr. have made possi bl seemed a good disco very of the Mitch el lette r by Dale Morgan , •hfi.ch ws Mass acre reaso n tor the long delay in getti ng the Moun tain Meado off the preae , and the actio n of re-•n stati ng John D. Lee by the delay ed actio n LDS Churc h Auth oritie s 5± the end ot a simii ar long Doyle Lee, •.• of the Arthu r H. Clnrk CoMpany in bring il'tg out the John for your For all these thing s lam grate ful-- and most of all to have any prese nce here tonig ht. It is a humb ling thing for me come so tor, but to have so many --- I THAlUC YOU • NOTES lFor a number of yearR these records were in the !emple basement long with all the other ,take and ard Records . When the remodeltin g program began, they were h~uled to the Tabernacle abd piled without any order on the floor. I told the St~ke 'Preei<1ent th t it he ould get someone to build some shelves there, I woHld be rea~onsibl e for placing the hooke and listing them. Instead, he called the General Office in Salt Lake City, and 13rr.ther Annre "enson ceme down. He Helect~d the rnoet important of them and hAd them shipped to headquarte rs. It was a long time before they ~ere unpacked anrt arranged, and in the meantime Brother Corbett and others began to doubt the existence of Books C and D., in spite of the extensive notes l had made from them in both 1927 and 1934. 2This letter was on official WORKS PROGRJ~SS .ADMINLSTRA'l'ION stationery , Washington D.C: Nov . 1, 1934. 3Dnted Nov . 10, 1934, from Dr. Dorothy Biro Nyswander , Departraen t on Pe:ychology , University of Utah . 4Letter, Juanita Brooks to Dr . Luther ff . Evans , April 11, 1965, in anRwer to his of March 28, 1936. 5- Letter , J. Brooks to Dr Luther H. Evans, April 20, 1937. 6This story, told in Little's Life of Jacob Hamblin, has been repeated in msnp places, and has become fa 1ly legend. Among these who passed over the road in advance of John L. Ginn were the mail r~der J. Hunt an( 6: 8- Citations here are from Brooks , Mountain Meaoows Ma sacre , (~tanford'- University Press, 1950): Higbeell "When they hP.d passed ClinKensm ith's cornpnny one fourth of a mile, women & children wer~ sent along the same road. After t hey had had -passed the sa e point abour a half a miil-1 •. • " P• 174. Mcfarlane: "T.k.l.ec1?ilerans will let them p.a ss a half a mile or more ••• " p. 179. Klinp;enSm ith: 11 • • • after said emigrants had marched abour a half a mile toward Cedar City ••• " p. 183 Gero e A. Srn:i th, wri tine; from Parowan: "After proceeding a.bout a mile ano a half ••• 11 P• 189 Senate Document No . 42, Tullis testifying : "The p:rooeedeci about one and a half miles toward Cedar ••• " p 199 NOTES For a number of yea.rs these records were in the Temple base'l'l ent, along with all the other Stake and Ward Records . When the re~ode ling program began, they were hauled to the Tabern acle and piled in great disord er opoilh: 41hft-Q r. I told theSsm e Presid ent th~t if be would get soneone to build some shelves there; I eould be respon sible for plaeing the books City, and listing them. Instead , he called the Genera l uffice in Salt Lake nt importa most the d and Brothe r Andrew Jenson crur,e down. He selecte and had them shipped to headqu arters. It w~s so long before they were unpacke d th at some people began to doubt that Books C and D really existed . I had extensi ve notes from them taken in 192~ and 1934. Letter on officia l WORKS PROGRESS AWINISTRATION station ery, 2• Washington, D,C. Nov. 1, 1934. Origin al on file. Letter dated Nov. 10, 1934~ frorr. Dr. Dorothy Nyswahder, Department of Psychology, Univers ity of Utah. 3- Letter , JuanitR Brooks to Dr. Luther H. Evans , April 11, 1936, in answer to his of ~arch 28, 1936. 4- 5- Letter, J. Brooks to Dr. Luther H. Evans, April 20, 1937. This story, told in Little 's, Life of Ha.cob Hamblin , has 6- 'fi1 been retold in many pl~ces , and has beeo~e a f arr ily legend . For detail of travel over the road i w.media tely after the :massac re at the i>buntain l1eadowst see Brooks, The Mountqin r-eadows Massac re, (Stanfo rd Press, 1950. pp. 80-98J . Or Ibid Oklahoma Univer sity Etesa, ChRpte r Seven. 7- a.. ~i tations here negµrd ing the march of the doorried corr.p any the Stanfor d Univer sity Press edition : I Higbee : When they had passed Olingen swi th s Company onefourth of a mile, women & childre n were sent along the same r9ad. After they had passed the same point about a half a n,ile •••• " p. 17Ji. l"iacfarlane I u'.Lhe Indians will let thel11 pass a half a rrile or more ••• p. 179. Klingen smith s 11 • • • After said emigrants had rr.arched about a 11 half a :rrile toward Cedar City, ••• p. 18 3 George A. Srrith;, writing fro m Parowan: "After proceed ing a.bout a .rrile and a half ••• 11 p. 189. Senate Document No. 42, Tullis testify ings "'Ihey proceedlidg avout anepuad aadhaa.16.'anltl:f:i."' i!oward Ce4ar •••• " p. 199 • ~re all from !, FRIENDS OF THE UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: little talk tonight I have called my JEST A COPYIN'-W ORD F'R WORD because this was the apologetic statement of our local authority to his superior state officer as he explained what we were doing. As custodi?-n of federal funds in Washington County, he needed to give an account; as a thrifty man, he did not wish to see money wasted. If we must collect these musty old things, we should scan them carefully and take out only the pertinent items such as dates of birth, baptism, ordinations, marriage, gind death, arrange them, and summarize in orderly capsules the other events, so that they would be easily available to genealogists. Just to copy them, word-for-wor d, seemed a needless waste. "No one in the world will ever read them, except you and Nels Anderson," he said with scorn in his voice. This I will return to later. Perhaps I should take time here for a thumbnail sketch of my background, and the reasons why I have come to have such an intense feeling of the value of handwritten records, especially one which are kept dayby-day. Most of you have already heard me tell-some of you many timesof my discovery of the journal of my great-grandm other, Sarah Sturdevant Leavitt, and how I became so completely absorbed that I forgot my assignment entirely. I cannot overstate the impact of this record, its wrapping-pap er pages, scissors cut and sewed together, its pasteboard backs covered with stitched-on cloth. Here was the real feeling of the people about the death of their prophet. Here also were characters I would meet again after many years and in many places: Dr. Vaughan, Brother Conditt . ( who was shot by John Gheen), Peter Maughn, and others. During my eighteenth year, I borrowed the journal again and copied it word-for-wor d by hand into my mother's large record book, carefully preserving the spelling even when I knew it was incorrect~ My second original record was that of John Pulsipher, which began when he was nineteen and continued throughout most of his life. Here now was something really worthwhile. In the 1848 trek across the plains he drove the lead wagon in the first company. After his arrival he tells of various assignments, among them the Northern Indian Mission, the founding of Fort Supply, his service in the Utah War, and his call to Dixie. This is so eloquent that many historians have referred to it and quoted from it. It was in the home of my first husband, Ernest Pulsipher. Though I did not copy it at the time, I did read it and study it, and I had it copied form was in my possession long before I became involved in the business of collecting. During these years I had _also seen and read the diaries of M-yron Abbott and Joseph I. Earl, both from the Virgin Valley. _ After I had be·c ome a wife, a mother, and a widow in fifteen months, I decided to get my degree and make teaching in a high school or junior college my career. ( Some day I'll do a story entitled, "Through College on a Shoe String." Illustrated, it could be supremely, screamingly funny. But I'll spare you that tonight.) At last-in 1925-I was graduated from the B.Y.U. and came that fall to teach at Dixie Col1ege. J. Will Harrison and his wife, Gladys, were also new on the faculty. She used to say that there was certainly no band out to greet us; in fact, she smarted some at the fact tha"I we were ignored. We had this in common, so we became fast friends with each other. She % \ 11-Utah St Hist Soc / eligible to be included in some of the local did haveahusband, so wasthink ladies' groups, but Idon't she was invited-at least to the ones she would like to havejoined. that there isno place for a My case \\'as different. I early learned groups have no need for an extra, widow in Mormon society. :VIarried mind. Ihad "old" company. But I didn'tcousins and the youngsters do notorwant living and sisters and my son, and alv,ays tvvo three brothers so my debate, and English in classes in my home. I was busy teaching time was more than occupied. l woman who sought me out, and with I did have one wonderfu who friendship. This was MabelinJarvis, whom I maintained a lastingoffice later worked the courtwas working at the telephone a partinof1925, Historical Records Survey. house, and still later became care for hertheaged She was much She had given pmarriage to ha~ t~ make _tributesparents. on "D" Day; i~deed, rs _who sought after bfoungste without funeral a or 10nary farewell, there ,,·as scarcely a\\·ecldmg, am1ssPerhaps her finest contributions were some of the poetry of Mabel Jarvis. the pageants dealing with theearly history of Dixie. Her father, Brigham Jarvis, Sr., was widely known as ateller of tall tales, many of which remain folklore today. office to wait until her shift One night I called at the telephone awedding reception.There Idis-G. was up so that we might go together todesk, the four volumes of James covered on the top of the roll-down and D. They Mission," Books A, B,C,-Peter Bleak's "History of the Southern to open '2rackof <;lovvn with St. were so large they looked like the on awhite tall inches two fully back were them. The black letters on theminutes to find that the Bunkcrvillerecords band. I needed only afew her beginnings were. After that I wentmytohome were in Book C; at least the copied interestingnoteson office anumber of times and of 1927some y, Universit the from ayoung man town. Then during the spring River that the villages on the Virginworld. lecturing to an extension class, stated he in the state, and perhapsin alls until were certainly the most inbredhad they doubled upon themselve (1927) The prolific Leavitt families summer study. Duringthat would be avaluable source for agroup lle, Bunkervi of town the of astudy I did my first attempt at researchly. inWhile this is not apretenious work, using Books Cand Dextensive \•vith charts of intermarriages.records it has preserved some early history, these Bleak only because Icameto know It is important heremany n,1 I years they droppedout of circulatio so that later, when for y of Nevada, Universit the at later, could still swear they existed. H.StillLeavitt, was doing his master' s thesis in 1934, my brother, Francis WhenI went to t in Clark County, Nevada. on the Mormon settlementhey but office, gonefrom thetelephone check the Bleak records, ofwere lfound themin the basement 1925the totemple. 1933- were happy, fruitful years, These teaching yearsin the midst of which I took aleave of absence to earn mymaster's degree at Columbia University.r thedepression of the early 1930's and the Some of you remembe Franklin D. Roosevelt's "First 100 Days," sweeping actions of Presidentof industry turningagain. Iwas not conscious as hetried to set thewheelsFederal Emergen Relief Act of March 31,2 of The FERA acts- the Emergency ReliefcyAdminist of May 1 1933, or of the Federal money into every state ofration the union. Marifollowing. These put federal ton, D.C., working on this, and sincehe neer S. Eccles was in Washing n on low incomes, hesaw to it that knew that Utah had ahighpopulatio under WPA, share. The money was dispursed we received a generouslast, assistCivil Works Administration, gave PWA, CWA, etc. This theimprovin roads, ditches, water syance to townsand cities forll of which gmstreets, eant employment for men and ,.stems, garbage disposal, a 1933 Washington had received some__, boys. By thelate summer of reached thewidowCounty and her family,or FERA money, but nonehad other unemployed women. must go the credit for initiatingthiscollectTo Mr. Nels Anderson married theWilliam Brooks family in had ingand copyingproject. I came and a with his wife, his son Martin, May 1933. That fall Nelslodgingon the sam~block with us, just around secretary. His family took by sidewalk, and .kitchen through by a thecorner am the second house door to mine. Mr. Brookswas still Sheriff shorter trail from his back every person in thecounty. as the little Brooks, theman who knewof St. George remembered Nels Many of the citizens empty off afreight carin the long, Woods hobo vvho in 1908 had been kicked the ranchof Lyman as to ay \,· his stretches of Nevada, who found \•v one of the family. In 1909 he and in Clover Valley, and was taken in aslater heattended Dixie College933 he baptized into the Mormon church; 1 in Now 920. 1 vvas graduated in went on theB.Y.U. whereidhefrom theSocial Science Research y.Council returned with agrant-in-a Council of Columbia Universit These Science Social and one from the for abook to be written on The Last were to help him collect material as Desert Saints in 1942. on, especiMormon Frontier. It appeared source of informati Nels found Sheriff Brooksavaluable thewine industry had played in s,Dixie, allyin social matters likethe part and social regulations of the dance the DeLamar Dust victims,adthealready had copies of the two diaries I numerous other things. I h f r St Hist Soc 12-Utah nedand knew of the contents andwhereabouts of the basic have mentio histories of James G. Bleak. family backwanted meto usemyit own As his work progressed,Nels knew from the experi-/ article on polygamy IassetIabout ground and writeanFlatter to do it, but ed bythis offer,d. ences of my pa:ents. when Ihad fimshed,Nels washenottoldsatisfie conversational easy, an me."Just take ," "Make it less formalconcer nedwith statistics. Bringin other families, be too don't style ifand too, you can.,, an easy, conversationas,l ,"he told me. "Just take ,rMake it less formalconcer in other familie Bring cs. statisti with d ne too e b t don' and style you can." too, if St. George. made acting postmasterin and By thistime Will had tobeen address say goodbye, wrote hisd name Nels stopped at the office as soon article the forwar to e m for word left and paper, of on apiecefinished. as it ·was s into hisshirt pocket, slipped theaddres Will said he wouldBytelltheme,time it had run throughmy Maytag/washand promptly forgot it.compl illeg~b~e.Now with this er and wringe r,it waspolygamyetelystory placeto send it. fimshed, I had nowrite my second draft of for to inquire, I to get tiredof waitingand While I waited r'sNels To my surprise, they accepted it and it Harpe Magazine. mailed it to the ry 1934. appeared in issue of Februa November 1, v, aletter from Nels dated As nearly as I can tellofnm, collecting diaries and original on the idea thatme 1934, marks the incepti manuscripts might bedone underagovern nt project. Iquote:project / hitecollar work proyou should initiate awm It occurs tome that ight have astudy your arC'a. Better stillg you for theunemployed inwho ent aid. Inmy wayg governm receivin now arc ject for the students than in thegatherinarc \my of using students of thinking there is nonts.better Dixiana. Herc of n collectio a it call s u et L docume of historical d: that should be include some of the subjectspictu lsconcerning Dixieerplaces, original materiapeople Documents, Allreskand can rememb about stories that eef. inds of Even includingSilver R the fictions and myths should be and bad stories. and the Reef. Goodshould away. filed written bP ach E gathPrecl. graphies of thepioneers l a lot of autobiothem You have alreadyofgatherPc ss. They of are worthle them, but too many and I haw read many stories about people these to acid could one If messages. stri\'c to conveyactual was the one good a to h e\·ents. The closest approac and places andJohn S. Stucki. littk book of to want owners where case every in PicturC's should be reproduced keep thC' originals. collecte dandpreserved. Lettersshouldbe records and theTown records should be gathered The old Church together and preserved.and bad) should be writtPn clown,, ith music. Old songs (good cler of theUmof thisto Dr. Dorothy sNyswan I am sending acopy projects in the Relief is also in charge hofelpwomen' versityof Ctah,ofwho started. thing the get can e sh hope I Ctah. stration Admini Sincerely, Nels Andcrson2 .. r to Dr. Nyswander of the University of Utah Aaresult of hislette her dated November 10, in which she gave theidea I had aletter frompassed it on. her approval, and over this project immediately with that you talk . . . I would suggest nCounty, istration of Washingto of the Relief Admin the County ManageinrSt. it not hewould belie,~ to see whether ormuch George, who has his officethrougha project and persocial of so ~,·hich has feasible tocarry.. .." value manent was Mr. in charge of the FERAIhfunds I took her advice. Thewasman adbeenmade also stake president. 1Since William0. Bentley,thewho 9, 1933, we were both societyonSeptemberWhate stakepresident of relief ver up-state cons. of someof our familieonly conscious of theneeds I offered myguest that not know. I know anoutside nectionsheset up, I do door, so workers place to work. It hadour family privac bedroom rent free goas awithou }r". and ,vas t disturbing could come and with therug We put in a and all thefurnitureout. spacious enough- iters,amanuscr table ipt file, and asmall at which longtable, sometypewr s right away. Icouldwork,and werethisin busines make work for strictlyarelief projecortvvto Remember that eed.was hters type hohad dauginterWomen ,vhocould were families in desperateatncopy sent out to take get ingdiaries. Others hey were ,vho could were set people to ted instruc of the areas. T views with the older birth, travels and so on, , marriage, positionsheld, of theimportant datesdetails on thefrontier, social home managementrage and ofill in with events.ofThey s, imto encou reminithescence activities, important church leaderswere my polyga of ers, lead local of , isiting v of ns pressio would nt was intereste~.. They in whichthe~,nacould, rtids, of anythingthem return to vlSlt theperson as best they takenotes, write ad upwritte needed, ment or change hes<;>ry asbefore andread wha. theyithto us to ben,supple we form ary relimin p a in d type bring and finally ,,·ith carbons. masterpieces, but collectivelythey made the final copy Not all of these were literary to did form agood base of local history, and thewages- $30.00 amonth / 13-Uta h St Hist Soc begin with, later raised to $32.00, and then to $36.00-w erc a literal godsend. I collected the diaries. We announce d in a general stake conferenc e that this project was beginning, that if people who had diaries or other original records in their possession v\'Ould bring them in, \\'e would copy they free of charge and return the original and a copy to the owner. In every case I received the original, gave the owner a rccipt for it, and returned it in person with a typed copy in a manila folder. I followed leads in all parts of the county and into Iron County as \,·ell. On one occasion I was traveling with Vivian Leavitt Palmer, who was in some way connecte d \,·ith a governm ent program in Cedar City. We were going to Virgin, I in search of a reported manuscri pt, she to visit several families. Just before we entered the town we had to cross the Virgin River. It wasn't exactly in flood, but the water was far too high to drive a car into. We sat on the bank and considere d; finally, not willing to go back now that we were here, I pulled off my shoes and stockings and waded across, the water above my knees in some places. After a little hesitation , Vivian followed suit. Fully dressed, we walked into to\\'n. I found the home I was looking for, knocked, gave my name and my reason for coming to the woman who answered the door. She seemed not to compreh end quite just what I was after. "Who did you say you wuz?" she asked. "I'm Will Brooks's wife-Sh eriff Brooks, from St. George," I explained. "Why didn't you say that in the first place?" she wanted to know, holding out her hand. "Come right in, come right in. Anything I can do for Sheriff Brooks's wife, I'm more than glad to do." From that day on, I always introduce d myself as the wife of Will Brooks, and always had a warm reception. We found a great deal more mterial than I ,,voulcl have thought existed. Again Nels proved helpful. He wrote through the list of officials asking to borrow my carbons for study as source material in his research, until finally Dr. Luther H. Evans of the Library of Congress learned of our project and asked me to send copies of all I had clone to him. He was so impressed that he called a state-wid e meeting to be held at Salt Lake City for July 10-11, 1936. I was asked to attend. He had brought / with him the results of our work, and had conceived the idea of en/ larging upon it. In the meantim e the Federal Writers' Project had been started in Colorado and, I believe, in Utah, but its purpose \\'as different. The employees were doing creative writing. Our project was expanded to become the Historic Records Survey. In setting this into motion, many people were evidently asked for suggestions. Dr. Evans had prepared a questionn aire of a number of questions upon which ,-ve were asked to give our opinions. I quote my answer to Question No. 3, v,,hich had to do with privately -owned diaries, because it is still my feeling on the subject: J •( ~0• -~J!f / f. . . . I think that wherever possible the manuscrip t (a privatcly-0 \rned diary) should be copied in its entirety and then indexed. I should oppose taking excerpts from it because it is not fair to either the \\'riter or the reader. It assumes that the judgment of one person is sufficient to determine ,vhat is of value. For example: I have secured the journal of Esias Edwards, born in 1812. It is \\'ithout a back and quite difficult to read. I might just list it, but that would be of no value "·hate\'er, because the ownrrs would not let everyone have access to it, and even if they did the handwritin g is so difficult that frw people would go through it without being assured that it contained facts in which thry were interested. A few hand lings and the book would be all to pieces. Suppose I were to take excrrpts from it. If I were interested in early poetry, I should copy the few \'erses which it contains; if religiously inclined, I might select the cases of heatings which it records. Or I might want the story of the arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, or thr Indians troubles at Tooele, or the arrival of Johnston's Army, or the difficulties of living polygamy, or any one of a dozen or more other subjects. Unless it can be copied, it is of little use to even mention it. The owners cannot afford to have it done, and the book is lost unless it is done .... 4 With the organizat ion on a state level and its headquar ters at Ogden, I was relieved of my rcsp~nsibility. My letter to Dr. Eva~s dated April 20, 1937, says that I am bcmg released, and, after rcquestm g that copies of the diaries of Esias Edw,ards, Myron Abbott, Levi M. Savage, and Levi Savage Sr. be returned 6n to give my evaluatio n of the work: We have done sonw forty such records under this project, some of them very valuable history, I tl1ink, in addition to the work on the ~ounty and Church records. I frel that it has been worthwhile , and has fully justified the expenditur e. vVhilc much remains to br done, I am glad for this start, as many of these ,mule! never have been preserved othen,·isc. The ,,·ork has also been most interesting .... '· Although I \\'as "out," I still remained active in locating and sending in diaries; in fact, I considere d myself as a Quorum of One to follow up any lead that I found. The staff in our area \\'as now limited to only I / / / ' 14-Utah St Hist Soc three or four, and of them, Mabel Jarvis continued long after the others had found more lucrative employment. She was the local correspondent to theSalt Lake Tribune, and as a part of her other assignments she did short histori es of every settlement in the county and of every L.D.S. ward in the St. George Stake, which extended at that time to include all the southern Nevada settlements. Many of her stories of historic buildings, celebrations, and obituaries are preserved. During the next years I became acquainted with Dale L. Morgan, who more than any other person influenced my work and my thinking. I had been interested in doing a biography of Jacob Hamblin, but my father ordered me to do one of his father, Dudley Leavitt, instead. "Everybody talks about Jacob Hamblin,'' he said, "but my father was with him on his hardest expeditions, and when he had one too hard, he sent Dudley Lca\'itt and Ira Hatch to do it. That was the trip to Las Vegas when they both nearly lost their li,·cs." He reminded me that, as the Jacob H'amblin group were returning from their first mission to the Indians across the Colorado, it was Dudley Lea,·itt who had sacrificed his horse that the men might have food. Camped in the snow at Pipe Springs, they faced literal starvation.u Dudley's family had lived on th" frontier and moved so many times that he had little schooling and could hardly sign his name. This was all the more reason why his story should be written. I had been trained to obey my father; I did so now, working at the manuscript betv,een home duties and carrying it, a chapter at a time, through the block to the local printer. I was not especially proud of it at the time, through I did collect some good folklore from all the living children, the last one of whom died a few months ago. Since that time I ha\'e found new material about my grandfather, some pertinent references to him and some accounts of his acti,·ities which make me feel that I should like to rewrite the story ,vhich appeared in the small volume in 1941. In the meantime I had become a pen pal of Dale Morgan. We exchanged long letters on a number of subj ects, and from the first he astounded me ,,·ith the scope of his knowledge, with his exact and precise and unerring memory. It was as if he had a photographic mind which stored neatly c,·ery scrap of information and promptly brought it forth upon demand. A never-to-be-forgo tten experience was when I kept an early morning appointment with him at Cedar City and clro,·e with him over the Old Spanish Trail rou te to the Mountain Meadows. Thero.rd was not marked at that time; ,,·e became lost in the mazes of the Lytle corrals, and finally had to come back to St. George and get my husband to take us back to the place. We had both been there in 1932, when the present monument \\'as dedicated. The next day Dale and I went through the settlements up the Virgin Ri\'cr toward Zion Park. But from Rock\·ille ,,·e took the pioneer road to the top of the plateau, Yisited the Canaan Ranch, Pipe Springs, and located the site of the Berry massacre near Short Creek- the early Maxwell Springs area. The old cottonwoods along the sandy creek looked much as they must ha,·c done when Father Escalante passed. This trip put new meaning to my reading of the early history of this area . I had already known of ffamblin's first trips there, and as I began working on the JoJhn D. Lee material, I was led over this terrain many times. A third significant trip with Dale \\'as down US Highway 91 to the point \\'here the Old Mormon Trail intersect.s it, about seven-tenths of a mile abm·e the Utah-Arizona line. We had timed it perfectly; the straight white line stretched to the horizon clear enough to photograph. Not only was Dale stimulating and helpful and critical ( as at times he had to be ), but it was he who opened the next door of opportunity for me. He was li,·ing in Arlington, Virginia, doing research in the Library of Congress. Among his good friends was Darel McConkic, who had employment in Washington, D.C. in the Department of Agriculture. In late J anuary of 1944, Dale \\Tote that Darcl had attended a party the night before, at a home there in Arlington, where the secret, supposedly carefully guarded, was whispered: "The H enry E. Huntington Library has purchased from the descendants of Col William Nelson the diaries of John D. Lee. They paid a fab ulous sum. Exact amount unknown." Dale suggested that I write the library telling them I understood that they had acquired the diaries of John D. Lee, and asking if I might sec them if I were to come clown. The answer came with amazing promptness. It made no rcfence to my question, but assured me that they did ha\'C a copy of the testimony at the J ohn D. Lee trials, which ,ms open to scholars. "There arc other reasons why we should like to have you \·isit our library," he wrote, and added that he had seen my little book on Dudley Lca,·itt, and that his family was connected by marriage. In less than a week, I was facing the first footman at the Henry E. Huntington Library. The pass Mr. Bliss had sent me ga\'e instant per- •/ 15-Utah St Hist Soc / / / mission to examine the Lee Diaries, upon condition that I should not mention the fact that they had them, and I was appointed to act as a "Field Fellow'' for them in the collection of Mormon materials . Thus the door of opportun ity was opened for me. I've often said that "Hca,·en is doing \\·hat you would be glad to do for nothing and getting paid for it." I still think that is true. For the next four years v;e had a family project. Mr. Brooks was as interested in it as I was. E,·cn the children became im·oh·ed with the Henry W. Bigler Diary, which had been used as a scrapboo k, each page fully and carefully pasted o,-cr ~recipe s, sentimen tal poems, fashions, or suggestions. At first sight I said, "I cannot read a sealed book." and then we proceede d to un-seal it a page at a time. We tried razor blades nd kitchen knives, and at last settled on steaming towels. Hmv excited vc would be as we peeled of the newspape rs and the purple ink came through bright and clear\ 0f the account of Bigler's trip south with the Jefferson Hunt party of forty-nin ers, many of whom ga,·c Death Valley its name. So, page by page \\·e read it, until even the children became interested , while ~fr. Brooks v,as completely wrapped up in the project. This Field Fellow appointm ent was really a rich experienc e for us all. "We trust your int<"grity; we trust your judment, " Dr. Cleland told me. "We know that you cannot hit pay dirt c,·cry time, but if you know of a documen t anywhere in these United States that you think is worth going after, feel free to go for it." I began by retracing my steps to gather the originals I had already seen. This business of ha\'ing them presen-ed as they were, with clear photogra phs, sometimes enlarged for easier reading, seemed as a blessing from hca,·cn. As a beginning, I gave in my own grandmo ther's diary, the one ,vhich had so impressed me as a child, and accepted in return this photogra phic reproduc tion securely bound. I carried it with me where\'er I \\"ent. Then came the descenda nts of Martha Cox, whose wondcrf ul record each wanted in the original. The Library, at my suggestion that it might be good publicity , sold them copies for $25.00 each. This program, hm\·e,·er, could not be continued . People were so pleased with this arrangem ent that they pa sec! the word around. Oflne of my best unpaid agents was Brother James Blackburn, ,\·hose father, an early bishop of Provo, had kept a large and clearly-writte n ledger. So happy was he with the copy that he took it under his arm to a different ward each month on Testimon y Day and used it as a showpiec e from which to speak of the experiences of our pioneers. Many letters came asking if I " ·ould look at their records. I found the real tragedy when I came to retrace my steps and gather the items I had used just ten years earlier. So many had disappe aredthe owners, some of them dead, the children, most of them indifferent. "After we got the nice type\ffitt en copy, we didn't care so much about the other one. It was so ragged and hard to read. I don't know where it did go," one lady tol df-nc. Again and again when I asked for a record, they brought out the typewritt en copy I had made under the FERA program, and when I insisted that I "as interested only in the original, they would look at each other and ask, "\-VhatC\'Cr DID happen to that Diel Henry's wife take it- Or was it Mincn'a? " Though I \\"as bitterly disappoin ted at the loss of these, I was grateful for the fact that copies were prescvccl, imperfec t through they were. For me, the photogra phic reproduc tions have been so wonderful. The chance to go back to the acual handwrit ing clears up so many things. For though the typed version is made as exact as possible, there is no way between the to sec the significance of the sentence evidentlv inserted I lines, of the correctio ns made by the \\Titer himself., ,Spmctimes the penmanship which looked like one word to you before but now stands out clearly as another. For me, the existence of a photogra phic copy to which I can go is a constant reassuran ce. For a good part of this program, I was tied up with the B.Y.U. through Professors ~1. Wilford Poulsen and X I. Butt. Since Huntingt on Library could not afford to gi,·e free photostat s, I carried with me a sample of the typed copy, all carefully indexed and fastened into a manila binder. I warned the owner that it would take some time to get this copying clone but that the original would be safe at B.Y.U. until it was finished, and then I myself would return it. Best of all, there would be no charge for all this work. This program has been a wonderfu l advantage to eYeryonc concerne d. This project led naturally to a grant for me to study the Mountai n Meadow s Massacre , the result of which was the book by that title which appeared in 1950. There were a number of interestin g developm ents in connectio n with that \,·ork. I knew that Professor William J. Snow had been command ed to Jca,-c the subject alone and that Dr. LeRoy R. Hafen also had learned early that here \\·as forbidden ground. So I made no mention of the fact that I \,·as doing research on the subject- I was just interested in the history of southern Utah during its earliest years, and in the li\·cs of the men who helped to shape that history. The diaries of Christop her J. Arthur, of Isaac C. Haight, and of Jesse N. Smith were of great significance. I learned of the existence of others, possibly even more relc\'ant, \\·hich I ha,·e not yet been able to secure. I had great respect and lo\·e for President Heber J. Grant, but I knew his sensiti\'ity on this subject, and how he had gone in person to Phoenix to protest the naming of the bridge at Marble Canyon. He did L / 16-Utah St Hist Soc not want it named "The Lee's Ferry Bridge" because he did not want that man's name perpetuated. For many reasons I said nothing of the project upon which I was working, not even to my family and close friends. I had already learned that what they did not know about, they would not question me about or discuss with anyone else. I shall not go into detail on this project, more than to say that the book was finally published by Stanford Uni\·ersity Press through the efforts of Dr. Wallace Stegner. An ad\'ance order from Miss Ettie Lee of one thousand copies with check enclosed speeded up the process. Herc again I must acknowledge the help and encouragement of Dale L. Morgan, who, in long letters, discussed with me the different angles. Then, as he had given me the initial impetus by learning of the existence of the Lee Diaries, so he gave me at the close the rnost important item in the whole book- the letter fr<'l m \!Viii iam C . Mitchell. This prm·ided the names of all members of the Arkansas company. Dale had found the hand-written original among the papers of the Indian Agency for Utah. It had arri\-cd in Washington, D.C., too late to be included in Senate Document 42, so had been slipped in among the original papers. It came to me after the book ,vas in the press, so I had to add it as a footnote to Chapter Three. As soon as the Mountain A1eadows Massacre appeared, the Historical Society of Arkansas sent a representative to the Library of Congress to verify this letter. This, in turn, resulted in their building a monument on the courthouse grounds at Harrison, Arkansas, and sending me an invitation to attend the dedicatory services. This, too, is another story. I felt that to re-present the murderers in that situation ,-vas a great challenge, indeed, but the people treated me with respect. The man in charge, :Mr. J. Kenner Fancher, was a Christian gentleman, with whom I formed a deep and lasting friendship. He passed away a few months ago. With this book out, and his mrn, This R rc k{css Breed of M en on the press, Dr. Cleland was ready to edit the John D. Lee Diaries. But he had waited too long. The work was scarcely under way when he suffered a stroke. His secretary, Mrs. Winnifred vV. Gregory, carried on, and he directed as he could from his wheel chair. 1 Always an advocate of copying "word-for-word," I now saw this put into practice with scrupulous care. Not only did the expert typists at the Henry E. Huntington make their copies word-perfect, but line-perfect also, so that the copy could be compared with the original quickly and accurately. 1\!Iy chief business at first was to compare the typescript to the photograph, enlarged for easier reading. I recognized such words as haunes intended to be haimes; I kne"· the f elloes, the king-bolt, the ex, the single-trees, and double tree. It took my husband to explain that shaunts of berries mean a great abundance, and manat her of horses, a herd of cattle, flock of sheep, co\·ey of quail, hive of bees, etc. I well knew the meaning of unboalted flour and smutty flour and unsalted curd, of a burr ·will compared to a roller mill. In the same ,,·ay I ,vas familiar with many frontier folkways. In regard to differing interpretation, I remember that in one record an inserted parenthesis in pencil had been interpreted ( went to seed store to buy). Without knowing thisi saw it as ( ,,·ent to see a stove to buy ) and by checking and by noting that the date was in J anuary and there was snow, I decided that the latter \-vas correct. The item tells also that stoves were available and that he might be able to buy one. In transcribing these diaries, there is always the problem of the punctuation or lack of it. Much may be said in favor of dividing the sentences by placing in periods and capital letters where they belong, or where it seems that they belong. Y ct I ha\·e found so many times when the meaning was completely changed that I have come to the point where I leave it out unless it is placed in brackets. You ha\'C all heard examples where punctuation has been misread, as "What do you think? I will shave you for nothing and give you a drink!" which was punctuated as "What! Do you think I will shave you for nothing and give you a drink?" Truly the punctuation is as important as the words; sometimes it is more important. I think of some of the lists of names where no commas have separated them. This poses a problem where tbc typist must stop and take time to separate and identify each, inserting the bracketed comma between. I am particularly emphatic in insisting that nothing be omitted. The researcher has a right to sec the complete manuscript. In his use of it, he may delete as he please, since much will not be pertinent to his work. One writer will cut an itc mthat is of supreme importance to another. For example: Paul Cheesman in writing of J oscph Smith's account of the first vision as recorded by Alexander Neibaur, used a very short excerpt, and did not mention that the story was being told to one :Mr. Bonney. I h ad been looking e,·ery,,·herc for this man, Bonney, so that this had a special significance for me. I copied the entire entry for the day, line perfect and word perfect from the original and thought it much more emphatic than the shortened and punctuated one of Mr. Cheesman. Then, as I said before, I found in this source an item of great value to me that had meant nothing to him. I have often told the incident of our work in the FERA, when the girl who was copying the diary of Myron Abbott came to open rebellion: "I wish you would give me something else to copy. I 'm sick and tired of this," she said. "I can ,,·ell belic\·e this whole project is just a waste of .. 17-U tah St Hist Soc / This govern ment money, if this is the kind of thing we arc trying to sa\'e. the man docs nothin g but \,·ork on the clam. Hc}clls e\·ery day about weeks two for ditto, brush and rocks that arc put in the clam. Ditto, ditto, is gone now. Then an entry or t\,·o about other things, and no\\. the clam again and the ditch broke in fifty-t,,·o places ." She had her point. "Myron Abbot t was the waterm aster, ..,,.·hose the copy business it was to record the \\"Ork on the clam. A fc"· years after was was made, a go\·cr nmcnt engine er told me that this little record any,,·orth its weigh t in gold as the only real history of the Virgin River tangib le one had fQttnd . Thoug h it cO\·erecl only a few years, it did give and accura '·e proof of the -Aoocls of that time. l1 Truly "ont' man's meat is anoth er man's poison ." / a What is blessing it is that now we no longer must copy these on h ;, as are which typew riter, but may ha\·e xerox or photos tatic copies made, new good as the origin al. \Vith these a\·aila ble resear ch takes on a whole the vvhen dimen sion . There is no need to argue about what was writte n, actual handw riting is reprod uced. But th rcsarc h schola r still has a challe nge. Perha ps the person ,,.:ho event, wrote the manus cript \\'aS in error. If it \,·ere done years after the ps you there is ahrnys the possibility of uninte ntiona l distortion. Pcrh~_ is the point in case have seen, as I ha\·e, stories grov.- by retelling. One cre accou nt Qf.John L. Ginn of his trip trough Utah soon after the massa ny compa first at the Moun tain ~Ieado ws. He insists that he \\'aS with the the Valo\·er the groun d after the traged y, yet in a letter publis hed in bcr ley Tan, we learn that he did not lea\·e Salt Lake City until No\'em before 6, and tra,·cl ing \\'ith a wagon train could not ha\·e arriYecl there cre. late :'.\Jo\·embcr, more than two ancl a half month s after the massa of Before this time at least six other people had \\Titten descri ptions at their disme mbere d bodies and scatte red bones, v.:ith many woh-es tmutila been had ghastl y work. ' Ginn declar ed that "none of the bodies patche s ed or disfigu red by decay, the weath er being cold, with a few where found is nt of snow on the groun d." The best answe r to his accou he declar es that: /4 I',/'-/ came The foregoi ng constitu te the chief inciden ts of interest that continthe across trip l eventfu my during under my persona l obsf'rva tion after fortyent in that tragic year of 185 7, as I recall them to memor y in the them present I and . frontier Pacific the on life busy a of six years " ng. hope that their perusal may intf'rcst all\\ ho read tht> fort>goi is My conten tion is that the person handli ng an origin al docum ent is true honor -boun d to reprod uce it accura tely, wheth er he thinks it e by any or not. He may bracke t his opinio ns at the encl, but not chang be used may cript "jot nor tittle" the work of the author , for this manus by many people search ing for differe nt facts. my I am especially suspicious of the three dots ... , and so on, as how diction ary interp rets them. They arc so indefi nite; one ne\'er knows I which shock much deletio n they repres ent. I shall never forget the quoted ; felt ,vhen I read the whole of the John Quinc y article so often use of "It is by no means impro bable that some future text-bo ok for the 'What genera tions yet unbor n will contai n a questi on somet hing like this: most histori cal Ameri can of the ninete enth centur y has exerte d the sounds power ful influen ce upon the destinies of his countr ymen- ' .... " It of these as if he were ready for instan t baptis m. Y ct, by the same use thoug ht writer the three clots placed at the beginn ing, it could read that es of a the Morm ons "-ere all demen ted, cheerf ully mad, like the inmat 1 menta l hospit al he had recent ly visited. e Likewise, 1 am troubl ed by Morm onS:h oJa/ who "·ill declar \·aluc spurio us a docum ent which ht' admits has been a;cept ecl at face false for O\'er a half a centur y, and will then procee d to quote from this to make, and spurio us docum ent phrase s ,,·hich pro\'e the point he wishes O\'er just and d beyon studiously ignori ng a statem ent three paragr aphs The the page, which would thnm· serious doubts over his whole thesis. which al materi infere nce is that in setting out to PROV E a point, only will suppo rt the thesis should be used. find Speak ing again of the work of reprod ucing the manus cripts, I of an that the copyist must also use her reason ing~ use of elates. I think ed examp le of my O\rn. In copyin g the accou nt of John M. Higbe e-sign wordi ng Snort, "·c found a clear and accura te narrat i\·c, \,·ith the exact ed a of the "Orde rs" which he himse lf had carrie d to Lee. There follow into drawn ntly discussion of reasons why the men who had been innoce iately this could not stand trial. Clearl y the article was writte n immed of an pages en after the first trial of John D . Lee. The story fills eighte wordin g ordina ry notebo ok; the handw riting is clear and delibe rate, th ia ,vhich studie d. This man blame s the appro aching army for the hyster arm and to ons Morm the all spread throug hout the terrio tu and arouse d all the drill and sing battle songs. Accor ding to him, the Indian s \,·ere d suffere had they s \\Tong more in-Aamcd, angry and eager for reveng e for didat Holde n. He may not ha\·e known- he did not mentio n it if he with north chiefs that Jacob Hamb lin had taken ten or t\\-clvc Indian "Journ al him for a confer ence with Presid ent Brigh am Young. The Young 's m Histor y" report s their being there on Septem ber 1, and Brigha Diary carries this \'ery signifi cant entry for the same date: i r gave them Kanosh the Pa\·aun t chief \1·ith se\-cral of his band ,·isited me on of the possessi takcing be tu scems spirit some council and present s A the inating e.1ter111 from them restrain hardly can I Indians to assist Israel Americ ans Higbe e says the Indian s were out of hand, angry and threat ening; which he tells of the \'ariou s messengers and quotes verbai m the orders / 18-Utah St Hist Soc --} h ,~/ v...,,, <-) ,< / ?' 1 J %, / · :_L, / " v he himself carried from Isaac C. Haight to John D. Lee-orders from the colonel commanding, William H. Dame, in his own handwriting. The story is told in all its horror. The recent trial is ref erred to as bei~·;~~~nnaclc by "irresponsible hobocs," who knew nothing of the conIt all rings true to the times. But the date at the encl is clearly ).]14, E\'cry person who has secy. it has been prompt to say that is right, X .~·-with a magnifying glass tl-f'sa~is true. Vf/(eft it. In this we erred. We should have followed with [ 184 7], the true date.h In somewhat the same way, in the Diary of Tommy Gordon published in the Spring 1967 issue of the Utah Historical Quarterly the distance bt\,·ccn the two graws is gi\·en as 150 yards. One needs only to be on the ground to sec that here is an error. With the exception of Nephi Johnson who in his account said, "After marching along for some time," a,11 others used the terms "a half a mile," "about a half a mile," "a half a mile or more." Either Tommy expected to write 750 yards or 150 rods, both of which would be a little less than the half mile stipulated by all other rcportrs. 10 I use these to sho\\' only that no matter hmv vigilent we try to be, we can not avoid some errors. I ,vas asked to talk tonight about some of my experiences and contributions in the field of collecting and preserving manuscripts. The temptation has been strong to describe individual items which ha\·c brought into focus some of our early practices-like quoting George Laub on the Law of Adoption, or Oliver B. Huntington on the acti\'itics of his brother Dimick in the Danitc Band, or John Pulsiphcr on the winter campaign against Johnston's Army, or George W. Bean on the fourth of July celebration in Las Vegas. Instead, I have chosen to try to express my general philosophy in the handling of these records. Lik Carlyl, I want to sec each steadily and sec it whole. I ,,·ant to presen'e the author's personality, his,fpericnces, his contributions. I want to sec him as a person as well as a Saint. I want to pass on his contribution honestly, so that others of the future may make their interpretations from an honest re---production. I have made only a small beginning myself, but libraries throughout the nation arc continuing to collect and preserve these documents. And I feel that for all of us the first and best procedure is just to copy, word-for-word, the original. Then, weigh and consider our evaluations, presenting them fairly and honestly, without taking material out of context or trying to shape it to pro,·e our point. These people should stand by their records. \-Ve shall be fortunate to do as well. I have tried, as I ,,·ent along, to acknowledge the help and encouragement of my family and my many friends. I must add to the list Dr. A. R. l\fortcnscn, who first goaded me into writing an article on the Southern Utah Parks for the S ~ 1958 issue of thcP,uartnly, and later persuaded me to leave Dixie College and come to work at Historical Society headquarters, editing the Diaries of Hosea Stout-and then set me to do the Centennial Issue on the Dixie~tton Mission for the Quarterly. I O\\'C Dr. ~1ortcnson very much ind eed. Then, following him is Dr. Everett L. Cooley who permitted me to finish the Stout records and has given me constant encouragement. Over and abo\'e everything else, I am grateful that events far away and not of my making have made possible much of my work: the discovery of the Mitchel letter by Dale Morgan \\'hich seemed a good reason for the long delay in getting the A1 ountain ./Illeadows Massacre off the press, and the action of reinstating John D. Lee by the L.D.S. church authorities at the end of a similarly long delay by the Arthur H. Clark Company in bringing out John Doyle L ee. For all these things I am grateful-and most of all for your presence here tonight. It is a humbling thing for me to have any come so far, but to have so manyITHA~K YOU. 'For a number of years these records were in the SL. George Temple basement, a long \\'ith all the other stake a11d ,rnrd records. When the remodeling program began, they were hauled to the tabernacle and piled in great disorder 11pon the floor. J told the stake- pre,ident that if he would get someone to build some shelves there, I would be responsible for placing the books and listing them. I nstead, he called the g~neral office in Salt L ake City, and Brothn Andrew Jenson came down. He selected the most important and h ad thnn shipped to hc-adquarters. 1t was so long before tlwy were unpacked that some people began to doubt that Books C and D really existed. I had extensive notes from them taken in 1928 and 1934. 2 Letter on official Works Progress Administration stationery. Washington, D.C., l\ovember 1, 1934. The originals of all the letters cited are in the possession of the author. ' Letter dated November 10, 1934, from Dr. Dorothy Nyswander, Department of Psychology, Uni,·crsity of utah. ' Letter dated April 11 , 1936, from Juanita Brooks to Dr. Luther II. Evans, in answer to his of March 28, I 936. ' Letter dated April 20. 1937, from J. Brooks lo Dr. Luthc-r II. Evans. • This story, told in JaJmes Arnasy Liule's Jacob Hamblin, A .Varrati1•e of His Penonal Experience, as a Frontiersmaft". Afissiona,y to the Jndwns .and Explorer . . . (Salt Lake City, 1881), has been retold in many places and has hecome a family legend. 'For detail of tra,cl o\'er the road immediately after . the massacre at the :vlountain Meadows, sec Juanita Brooks, The M ountain Meado1rs Jfassacre (Stanford, I 9.'i0), 80-98, or . _ ( 2nd ed. , Norman , I 963), Chapter Se\'en. ' John T. Ginn, "Person Recollections of J ohn I. Ginn'' (typescript, Utah State H1stoncal Society), 53. "This account of John '111. Higbee is published in the 1950 edition of Mountain Meadows Massacre, 171-77. '" Citations here regarding t he march of the doomed company arc all from the 1950 . edition of ,\,fountain M eadows ,\fassacre. John M. Higbee: " When they had pased Clingcnsmith's Co. one-fourth of. a mile, \\·omen & children \\'ere sent up the same road. Afler they had past same po111t about a half " ( ·1 f mile ..." (p. I 74). p. Daniel S. M adarlane: "The Indians will let them past hal a m1 e or more . . · d · · emigrants l 79 ) · Philip Klingensmith: " . . . after said had marched a b ou t a Irn If m1·1e to\\ar . . Cedar City .. ." (p. 183). George A . Smith writing from Paro\\'an: ". . after proceeding about a mile and a d dd I " h . . half ... " (p. 11!9) . Report of Superintendent of Indian Affairs J. Forney, T cy procee c a )Out one an a half mile toward Cedar ... " (p. 199). Mrs. Brooks, well-known historian and author and mc-mber of the- Iloard of Trust_ces of the Utah State Historical Society, prc-sentecl this address a t the Sixteenth Annual Meetmg of the Society held in Logan, September 2 1, 1968 . • I ti' P \ PLEASE CORRECT THE ENCLCSED GALLEYS AND RETURN THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO THE UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. THESE GALLEYS HAVE NCT BEEN PROOF READ BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF CF THE SOCIETY AND MAY NOT NECESSARILY APPEAR IN PRINT AS THEY NOW APPEAR. CCRRECTIONS MUST BE KEPT AT A MINIMUM. RE-SETTING TYPE IS EXPENSIVE, AND CNLY THE MOST NECESSARY CORRECTIONS CAN BE MADE. PLEASE KEEP THIS IN HIND AS YOU READ 'YOUR P..RTICLE. Friends of the Utah State Historical Society: I have called my little talk tonight JEST A COPYIN'--WORD F'R WORD because this was the apologetic s_tatement of our local authority to his superior state officer as he explained what we were doing. As custodian of federal funds in Washington County, he needed to give an account; thrifty man, he did not wish to see money wasted. as a If we must collect these musty old things, we should scan them carefully and take out only the pertinent items such as dates of birth, baptism, ordinations, marriage, and death, arrange them, and summarize in orderly capsules the other events, so that they would be easily available to genealogists. word-for-word, seemed a needless waste. Just to copy them, "No one in the world will ever read them, except you and Nels Anderson," he said with scorn in his voice. This I will return to later. Perhaps I should take time here for a thumbnail sketch of my background, and the reasons why I have come to have such an intense feeling of the value ,..... of handlwritten records, especially ones which are kept day-by-day. V Most of you have already heard me tell--some of you many times--of my discovery of the journal of my great-grandmother, Sarah Sturdevant Leavitt, and how I became so completely absorbed that I forgot my assignment entirely. "" I cannot overfstate the impact of this record, its wrapping-paper pages, '-" scissors cut and sewed together, its pasteboard backs covered with stitched-on cloth, prophet, Here was the real feeling of the people about the death of their Here also were characters I would meet again after many years and in many places: Dr. Vaughan, Brother Condit~(who was shot by John Gheen), Peter Maughn, and others. e.i.9hteentit During m y ~ year, I borrowed the journal again and copied it wordfor-word by hand into my mother's large record book, carefully preserving the spelling even when I knew it was incorrect. My second original record was that of John Pulsipher, which began when he was nineteen and continued throughout most of his life. something really worthwhile. Here now was In the 1848 trek across the plains he drove the lead wagon in the first company. After his arrival he tells of various assignments, among them the Northern Indian Mission, the founding of Fort Supply, hii service in the Utah War, and his call to Dixie . This is so eloquent that many historians have referred to it and quoted from it. the home of my first husband, Ernest Pulsipher . It was in Though I did not copy it W0,6 at the time, I did read it and study it, and I had it copied for me and~in my possession long before I became involved in the business of collecting. During these years I had also seen and read the diaries of Myron Abbott and Joseph I. Earl, both from the Virgin Valley. After I had become a wife, a mother, and a widow in fifteen months, I decided to get my degree and make teaching in a high school or junior college my career. (Some day l' ll do a story entitled, "Through College on a Shoe String." Illustrated, it could be supremely, screamingly funny. But I'll spare you that tonight.) At last--in 1925--1 was graduated from the B, Y, fall to teach at Dixie Col l ege. also new on the faculty. u. and came th-':. J. Will Harrison and his wife, Gladys, were She used to say that there was certainly no band out to greet us; in fact, she smarted some at the fact that we were ignored. -2- We had this in common, so we became fast friends with each other. She did have a husband, so was eligible to be included in some of the local ladies' groups, but I don't think she was invited--at least to the ones she would like to have joined. My case was different. I early learned that there is no place for a widow in Mormon society. Married groups have no need for an extra, and the youngsters do not want "old" company. But I didn't mind. I had my son, and always two or three brothers and sisters and cousins living in my home. I was busy teaching classes in English and debate, so my time was more than occupied. I did have one wonderful woman who sought me out, and with whom I maintained a lasting friendship. This was Mabel Jarvis, who was working at the telephone office in 1925, later worked in the cour()~use, and still later became a part of the Historical Records Survey. given up marriage to care for her aged parents. She had She was much sought after by youngsters who had to make tributes on "D" Day; indeed, there was scarcely a wedding, a missionary farewell, or a funeral without some of the poetry of Mabel Jarvis. Perhaps her finest contributions were the pageants dealing with the early history of Dixie. Her father, Brigham Jarvis, Sr., was widely known as a teller of tall tales, many of which remain folklore today. One night I called at the telephone office to wait until her shift was up so that we might go together to a wedding reception. There I dis- covered on the top of the roll-down desk, the four volumes of James G. Bleak's "History of the Southern Mission," Books A, B, C, and D. They were so large they looked like the crack of doom with St. Peter to open them. The black letters on the back were fully two inches tall on a white band. I needed only a few minutes to find that the Bunkerville records were in Book C; at least the beginnings were. After that I went to her office a number of times and copied some interesting notes on my home town. Then during the spring of 1927 a young man from the University, lecturing to an ex- - tension class, stated that -the villages on the Virgin River were certainly the most infbred in the .state, and perhaps in all the world. ....,, The prolific Leavitt families had doubled upon themselves until they would be a valuable source for a group study. During that summer (1927) I did my first attempt at research in a study of the town of Bunkerville, using Books C and D extensively. While this is not a pretentious work, it has preserved some early history, with charts of interfmarriages. \,;,' It is important here only because I came to know these Bleak records l. , so that later, when for many years they dropped out of circulation, I could still swear - they existed. Still later, at the University of Nevada, in 1934, my brother, Francis H. Leavitt, was doing his master's thesis on the Mormon settlement in Clark County, Nevada. When I went to check the Bleak records, they were gone from the telephone office, but I found them in the basement of the -4:.emple . teClddn., TheseAyears- - 1925 to 1933--were happy, fruitful years, in the midst of which I took a leave of absence to earn my master's i egree at Columbia University. Some of you remember the depression of the early 1930's and the sweeping actions of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "First 100 Days," as he tried to set the wheels of industry turning again. 4 I was not conscious of The FERA acts--the Federal Emergency Relief Act of March 31, 1933, or of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration of May 12 following. These put federal money into every state of the union. Marineer S. Eccles was in Washington, D.c.,working on this, and since he knew that Utah had a high population on low incomes, he saw to it that we received a generous share. The money was dispursed under WPA, PWA, CWA, etc. This last, the Civil Works Administration', gave assistance to towns and cities for improving streets, roads, ditches, water systems, garbage disposal, all of which meant employment for men and boys. By the late summer bf 1933 Washington County had received some FERA money, but none had reached the widow and her family, or other unemployed women. To Mr. Nels Anderson must go the credit for initiating this collecting and copying project. vtilUam I had married theJ\Brooks family in May 1933. That fall Nels came with his wife, his son Martin, and a secretary. His family took lodging on the same block with us, just around the corner and the second house by sidewalk, and kittern through by a shorter trail from his back door to mine. Mr. Brooks was still Sheriff Brooks, the man who knew every person in the county. Many of the citizens of St. George remembered Nels as the little hobo who in 1908 had been kicked off a freight car in the long, empty stretches of Nevada, who found his way to the ranch of Lyman WoodSin CLover Valley, and was taken in as one of the family. In 1909 he. was baptized into the Mormon church; later he attended Dixie College and went on to the B.YJ,J., where he was graduated in 1920. Now in 1933 he returned with a grant-in- aid from the Social Science Research Council and one from the Social Science Council of Co l umbia University. These were to help him co l lect material for a book to be written on The Last Mormon Frontier. 5 It appeared as Desert Saints in 1942. Nels found Sheriff Brooks a valuable source of information, especially in social matters like the part the wine industry had played in Dixie, the DeLamar Dust victims, the social regulations of the dances, and numerous other things . I had already had copies of the two diaries I have mentioned and knew of the contents and whereabouts of the basic histories of James G. Bleak. As his work progressed, Nels wanted me to use my own family background and write an article on polygamy as I knew it from the experiences of my parents. Flattered by this offer, I set about to do it, but when I had finished, Nels was not satisfied. "Make it less formal," he told me. "Just take an easy, conver- sational style and don't be too concerned with statistics. Bring in other families, too, if you can." By this time Will had been made acting postmaster in St. George. Nels stopped at the office to say goodbye, wrote his name and address on a piece of paper, and left word for me to forward the article as soon as it was finished. Will said he would tell me, slipped the address into his shirt pocket, and promptly forgot it . By the time it had run through my Maytag washer and wringer, it was completely illegible. Now with this second draft of my polygamy story finished, I had no place to send it. While I waited for Nels to get tired of waiting and write to inquire, To my surprise, they accepted it I mailed it to Harper's Magazine. and it appeared in the issue of February 1934. 6 ber 1, As nearly as I can tell now, a letter from Nels dated Novem s and origin al 1934,m arks the incept ion of the idea that collec ting diarie manus cripts might be done under a govern ment projec t. I quote: It occurs to me that you should initia te a white collar work projec t for the unemp loyed in your area. Better still you might have a study projec t for the studen ts who are now receiv ing govern ment aid. In my way of thinki ng there is no better way of using studen ts than in the gather ing of a. histor ical docum ents. Let us call it a collec tion of Dixian ed: includ be should Here are some of the subjec ts that Docum ents, pictur es and origin al mater ials concer ning Dixie places , includ ing Silver Reef. All kinds of storie s that people can remem ber about the Reef. Good and bad storie s. Even the fictio ns and myths should be gather ed, Each should be writte n and filed away. You have alread y gather ed a lot of autobi ograph ies of the pionee rs and I have read many of them, but too many of them are worth less. They strive to convey messag es. If one could add to these storie s about peopl e and places and actual events . The closes t approa ch to a good one was the little book of John S, Stuck i. Pictur es should be reprod uced in every case where owners want to keep the origin als. Letter s should be collec ted and preser ved, The old Church record s and the Town record s should be gather ed togeth er and preser ved. Old songs (good and bad) should be writte n down with music. I am sendin g a copy of this to Dr. Doroth y Nyswa nder of the Unive rsity of Utah, who is also in charge of women 's projec ts in the Relief Admin istrati on of Utah. I hope she can help get the thing starte d. Since rely, Nels Anders on ~ of As a result of his letter to Dr. Nyswa nder of the Unive rsity she gave the Utah, I had a letter from her dated Novem ber 10, in which 7 idea her approval, and passed it on. • • • I would suggest that you talk over this project immediate ly with the County Manager of the Relief Adminis tration of Washingto n County, who has his office in St . George, to see whether or not he would believe it feasible to carry through a project which has so much of social and permanent value ...• I took her advice. The man in charge of the FERA funds was Mr. William O. Bentley, who was also s take president . the.. Since I had been made ,&take pres*nt of"- r elief ,society on Se.p\:.e.YY1.be.-r \\1933, we were both conscious of the needs of some of our families. nections he set up, I do not know. Whatever up-state c?n- I know only that I offered my guest bedroom rent free as a place to work. It had an outside door, so workers could come and go without disturbin g our family privacy and was spacious enough- -with the rug and all the furniture out . We put in a long table, some typewrite rs, a manuscrip t file, and a small table at which I could work, and were in business right away. Remember that this was strictly a relief project to make work for families in desperate need. Women who could type or who had daughters who could were set at copying diaries . Others were sent out to take interview s with the older people of the areas. They were instructe d to get the important dates of birth, travels, marriage, positions held, and so on, and to fill in with details of home managemen t on the frontier, social activitie s, important events. They were to encourage reminisce nces, impressio ns of visiting church leaders, of local leaders, of the polygamy ~aids, of anything in which the informant was intereste d. They would take notes, write them up as best they could, return to visit the person and read what they had written, supplemen t or change the story as needed, and 8 finally bring it to us to be typed in a preliminary form before we made the final copy with carbons. Not all of these were literary masterpieces, but collectively they ~- did form a good base of local history, and the wages--$30.00 a month to ~, begin with, later raised to $32,0-and then to $36. were a literal go~send. I col l ected the diaries. We announced in a general s take conference that this project was beginning, that if people who had diaries or other original records in their possession would bring them in, we would copy they free of charge and return the original and a copy to the owner. In every case I received the original, gave the owner a receipt for it, and returned it in person with a typed copy in a manilla folder. \V leads in all parts of the county and into Iron County as well. I followed On one occasion I was traveling with Vivian Leavitt Palmer, who was in some way connected with a government program in Cedar City. We were going to Virgin, I in search of a reported manuscript, she to visit several families. before we entered the town we had to cross the Virgin River. Just It wasn't exactly in flood, but the water was far too high to drive a car into. We sat on the bank and considered; finally, not willing to go back now that we were here, I pulled off my shoes and stockings and waded across, the water above my knees in some places. After a little hesitation, Vivian followed suit. Fully dressed, we walked into town. I found the home I was looking for, knocked, gave my name and my reason for coming to the woman who answered the door. She seemed not to comprehend quite just what I was after. "Who did you say you wuz?" she asked. 9 "I'm Will Brooks's wife--Sh eriff Brooks, from St. George," I explained . "Why didn't you say that in the first place?" she wanted to know, holding out her hand. "Come right in, come right in. Anything I can do for Sheriff Brooks's wife, I'm more than glad to do." From that day on, I always introduce d myself as the wife of Will Brooks, and always had a warm reception . We found a great deal more material than I would have thought existed. Again Nels proved helpful. He wrote through the list of officials asking to borrow my carbons for study as source material in his research, until finally Dr. Luther H. Evans of the Library of Congress learned of our project and asked me to send copies of all I had done to him. He was so impressed that he called a state-wid e meeting to be held at I was asked to attend. Salt Lake City for July 10-11, 1936. He had brought with him the results of our work, and had conceived the idea of enlarging upon it. In the meantime the Federal Writer,s. 1 Project had been started in Colorado and, I believe, in Utah, but its purpose was k ./c.,,-y),..__ ~.,)~~.4 L/..).,;'-.IL ~t>t-~,v~ C/~.::... tvv-<._., /.M.; 1~ l1. .,-,,~q • Records different /\ Out" project was .e xparlded to become the Histforic Survey. In setting this into motion, many people were evidently asked for suggestio ns. Dr. Evans had prepared a questionn aire of a number of questions upon which we were asked to give our opinions. I quote my . answer to Question No. 3, which had to do with privately- owned diaries, because it is still my feeling on the subject: .•. I think that wherever possible the manuscrip t (a privately owned diary) should be copied in its entirety and then indexed . I s hould oppose taking excerpts from it because it is not fair to either the writer or the reader. It assumes that the judgment of one person is sufficien t to determine what is of value. For 10 example: I have secured the journal of Esias F.ciwards, 1):)rn in 1812. It is without a back and quite difficult to read. I might just list it, but that would be of no value whatever, because the owners would not let everyone have access to it, and even if they did t he handwriting is ·so difficult that few people would go through it without being assured that i t contained fac ts in which t hey were interested. A few handl ings a nd the book would be al l to pieces. Suppose I were to take excerpts from it. If I were i nterested in ear ly poetry, I should copy the few verses which it contains; if religiously inclined, I might select the cas es o f healings which it records. Or I might want the story of the arrival in the Salt Lake Val l ey, or the Indian troubles a t Tooele, or the arrival of Johnston's Army, or the difficulties of living polygamy, or any one of a dozen or more other sub jec ts. Unless it can be copied, it is of little use to even mention it. The owners cannot afford to have it done, and the book is l ost unless it is done •..• _,,,.,/ { -- From that day to this, my policy has been to copy, word-for-word, without deleting anything. When family members say, "Why did you put that in?" I can only answer, "I didn't put it in. I left it in." __.( With the organization on a state levelofits headquarters at Ogden, I was relieved of my responsibility. My letter to Dr. Evans dated April 20, 1937, says that I am being released, and, after requesting that copies of the diaries of Esias Edwards, Myron Abbott, Levi M. Savage, and Levi Savage Sr. b.e returned, goes on to give my evaltJ.a tion of the work: We have done some forty such records under this project, some of them very valuable history, I think, in addition to the work on the County and Church records. I feel that it has been worthwhile, and has fully justified the expenditure. While much remains to be done, I am g lad for this start, as many of these would never have been preserved other wise. The work has a l so been most interesting ... • S 11 Although I was "out,'' I still remained active in locating and sending in diaries; in fact, I considered myself as a Quorum of One to fo ll ow up any lead that I found. The staff in our area was now limited to only three or four, and of them, Mabel Jarvis continued long after the others had found more lucrative employment. She was the local corresponde nt to the Salt Lake Tribune, and as a part of her other assignments she did short histories of every settlement in the county~ every L.D.S. ward in the St. George Stake, which extended at that time to include all the southern Nevada settlements . Many of her stories of historic buildings, celebration s, and obituaries are preserved. During the next years I became acquainted with Dale L. Morgan, who more than any other person influenced my work and my thinking. I had been interested in doing a biography of Jacob Hamblin, but my father ordered me to do one of his father, Dudley Leavitt, instead. "Everybody talks about Jacob Hamblin," he said, "but my father was with him on his hardest expeditions , and when he had one too hard, he sent Dudley Leavitt and Ira Hatch to do it. That was the trip to Las Vegas when they both nearly lost their lives." He reminded me that, as the Jacob Hamblin group were returning from their first mission to the Indians across the Colorado, it was Dudley Leavitt who had sacrificed his horse that the men might have food. 6 Camped in the snow at Pipe Springs, they faced literal starvation. · Dudley's family had lived on the frontier and moved so many times that he had little schooling anA could hardly sign his name. This was all the more reason why his story should be written. 12 I had been trained to obey my father; I did so now, working at the manuscript between home duties and carrying it, a chapter at a time, throuFh the b l ock to the local printer . I was not especially proud of it at the time, though I did collect some rood folklore from all the living children, the last one of who'P'died a few months ago . Since that time I have found new material about my grandfather, some pertinent references to him and some accounts of his activities which make roe feel that I should like to rewrite the story which appeared in the small volume in 1941 . In the meantime I had become a pen pal of Dale Morgpn . We excha:np;ed lonp. letters on a number of subjects, and from tr. e first he astounded me with the scope of his knowledge, with his exact and precise and unerring ~emory . It was as mind which stored neatly every scrap of lf he had a photographic information and promptly bro:up-ht it forth upon demand . A never-to-be - forgotten experience was when I kept:. an early mornin~ appointment with him at Cedar City and drove with him over the 01 Spanish Trail route to the Mountain marked at that time; ~adows . The road was not we became lost in the mazes of the Lytle corrals, and finally had to come back to S t. SeDrge take us back to the place . and get my husband to We had both been there in 1932, when the present monument was dedicated . The next day Dale and I went through the settlements up the Virgin River toward Zion Park . l,u t from Rockville we took the pioneer road to the top of the plataaµ, Springs 1 visited the Canaan Ranch , Pipe and located the site of the Berry massacre near Short Creek_ the early Maxwell Springs area. The old cottonwoods along the sandy creek looked much as they must have done when Father Escalante passed. _t.3- J This trip put new meaning to my reading; of the early history of this area. I had already known of Hamblin's first trips there, and as I began workinp on the John D. Lee material, I was led over this terrain many times. A third significant trip with Dale was down 91 to the point where the Old Mormon ~ail intersects it, of a mile above the Utah-Arizona line. abouts~v~n-untk. We had timed it perfectly; the straip:ht white line stretched to the horizon clear enoup:h to photograpp-. Not only was Dale stimulating and helpful and critical (as at times he had to be\ but it was he who opened the next door of opportunity for me. He was living in Arlington, Virginia, doing research in the Library of Congress. Among his good friends was Darel McConkie, who in ,'.\\\~bepa.rt11ten.t of A9t1cu1.ltu.re. had employment in Washington, D, 'C .,\ In late January.1944, Dale wrote that Darel had attended a party the night before, at a home there in Arlington, where the secret, supposedly carefully guarded, was whispered: "The Henry E. Huntington Library has purchased from the descendants of Col. William Nelson the diaries of John D. Lee. sum. They paid a fabulous Exact amount unknown . " Dale suggested that I write the library telling them I understood that they had acquired the diaries of John D. Lee, and asking if I might see them if I were to come down. The answer came with amazing promptness. It made no reference to my question, but assured me that they did have a copy of the testimony at the John D. Lee trials, which was open to scholars. "There are other reasons why we should like to have you visit our library," he wrote, and added that he had seen my little book on Dudley Leavitt, and that his family was connected by marriage. In less than a week,I was facing the first footman at the Henry E. Huntington Library. The pass Mr. Bliss had sent me gave instant permission 14 to examine the Lee Diaries, upon condition that I should not mention the fact that they had them, and I was appointed to act as a "Field Fellow" for them in the collection of Mormon materials. Thus the door of opportunity was opened for me. I've often said that "Heaven is doing what you would be glad to do for nothing and getting I still think that is true. paid for it." For the next four years we had a family project. Mr. Brooks was Even the children became invo l ved with as interested in it as I was. r the Henry W. Bigler Diary, which had been used as a scrap-book, each page ful l y and careful l y pasted over with recipes, sentimental poems, fashions~ or suggestions. At first sight I said, "l cannot read a sealed book," arul then we proceeded to un-seal it a page at a time. We tried razor b l ades and kitchen knives, and at last settled on steaming towels. How excited we would be as we peeled off the newspapers and the purple ink ofr came through bright and clearA the account of Bigler's trip south with the Jefferson Hunt party of .fo~-nintrs, So, page by page we read name. many of whom gave Death Valley its ,/'..., it, until even the children became c_~ Atifl-..1 interested, while Mr. Brooks was 'J"'w rapped up in the project. This Field Fellow appo.intment was really a rich experience for us all. "We trust your integrity; we trust your judgment," Dr. Cleland told me. "We know that you cannot hit pay dirt every time, but if you know of a document anywhere in these United States that you think is worth going after, feel free to go for it." I began by retracing my steps to gather the originals I had already seen. This business of having them preserved as they were, with clear photographs, sometimes enlargefor easier reading, seemed as a blessing from heaven. As a beginning, I gave in my own srandmother's d,;i. ary, the 15 one which had so impressed me as a child, and accepted in return this photographic reproduction securely bound. I went. I carried it with me wherever Then came the descendants of Martha Cox, whose wonderful record each wanted in the original. The Library, at my suggestion that it might be good publicity, sold them copies for $25.00 each. This program, however, could not be continued. People were so pleased with this arrangement that they passed the word around. whose One of my best unpaid agents was Brother James Blackburn, father, an early b ishop of Provo, had kept a large and clearly- written ledger. So happy was he with the copy that he took it under his arm to a different ward each month on Testimony Day and used it as a showpiece from which to speak of the experiences of our pioneers. \., Many letters came asking if I would look at their records. I found the real tragedy when I came to retrace my steps and gather the items I had used just ten years earlier. So many had dis - appeared--the owners, some of them dead, the children, most of them indifferent. "After we got the nice typewritten copy, we didn't care so much about the other one. It was so ragged and hard to read. where it did go," one lady told me. I don't know Again and again when I asked for a record, they brought out the typewritten copy I had made under the FERA program, and when I insisted that I was interested only in the original, they wou l d look at each other and ask, "Whatever DID happen to that? Did Henry's wife take it? Or was it Minerva?" Though I was bitterly disappointed at the loss of these, I was grateful for the fact that copies were preserved, imperfect though they were. For me, the photographic reproductions have been so wonderful. The chance to go back to the actual handwriting clears up so many things. lor 11 though the typed ver: ston i.s made as exact as possible, there is no way to see the significance of the sentence evidently inserted between the lines, of the corrections made by the writer himself; som,e times the penmanship which looked like one word to you before out clearly as another. but now stands For me, the existence of a photographic copy to which I can go is a constant reassurance. For a good part of this program,I was tied up with the ~XU.through Professors M. Wilford Poulsen and N. I. Butt. Since Huntington Library could ·1 not afford t o give free photostats, I carried with me a sample of '-' the typed copy, all carefully indexed and fastened into a manilJa binder. '-" I warned the owner that it would take some time to get this copying done but that the original would be safe at B.YJJ. until it was finished, and then I myself would return it. for all this work. Best of all, there would be no charge This program has been a wonderful advantage to every- one concerned. This project led naturally to a grant for me to study the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the result of which was the book by that titl.e which appeared in 1950. There were a number of interesting developments in connection with that work. I knew that Professor William J. Snow had been commanded to leave the subject alone and that Dr. L~~:. Hafe~ad l:arly/1.earne dl- that here was forbidden ground. So I made no mention of the fact that I was doing research on the subject--1 was just interested in the history of &outhern Utah during its earliest years, and in the lives of the men who he l ped to shape that history. ~nd. The d iaries of Christopher J. Arthur, of Isaac C. Haight,~of Jesse N. Smith were of great significance. I learned of the existence of others, possibly even 17 more relevant, which I have not yet been able to secure. I had great respect and love for President Heber J. Grant, but I knew his sensitivity on this subject, and how he had gone in person to Phoenix to protest the naming of the bridge at Marble Canyon. He did not want it, named "The Lee's Ferry Bridge" because he did not want that man's name perpetuated. For many reasons I said nothing of the project upon which I was working, not even to my family and close friends. I had already learned that what they did not know about, they would not question me about or discuss with anyone else. I shall not go into detail on this project, more than to say that the book was finally published by Stanford University1"ress efforts of Dr . Wallace Stegner. through the An advance order from Miss Ettie Lee of one thousand copies with check enclosed speeded up the process. Here again I must acknowledge the help and .e ncouragement of Dale L. Morgan, who, in long l etters, discussed with me the different angles. Then, as he had given me the initial impetus by learning of the existence of the Lee Diaries, so he gave me at the close the most important item in the whole book - -the letter from William C. Mitchell. names of all members of the Arkansas c ompany. This provided the Dale had found the hand- written original among the papers of the Indian Agency for Utah. It had arrived in Washington, D. c.,too late to be included in Senate Document 42, so had been slipped in among the original papers. It came to me after the book was in the press, so I had to add it as a footnote to Chapter Three. As soon as the Mountain MeadowsMassacre appeared, the Historical 18 Soc"'iety of Arkansas sent a representative to the Library of Congress to '-' verify this letter • . This, in turn, resulted in their building a monument on the courthouse grounds at Harrison, Arkansas, and sending me an invitation to attend the dedicatory services. story. Thi.s , too, is another I felt tha~o represent the murderers in that situation was a great challenge, indeed, but the people treated me with respe.c t. The man in charge, Mr. J. Kenner Fancher, was a Christian gentleman, with whom I formed a deep and lasting friendship. He passed away a few months ago. With this book out, and his own, This Reckless Breed of Men on the press, Dr. Cleland was ready to edit the John D. Lee Diaries. But he had waited too long. suffered a stroke. The work was scarcely under way when he His secretary, Mrs. Winnifred W. Gregory, carried on, and he directed as he could from his wheel chair. Always an advocate of copying "word-for-word1 11 I now saw this put into practice with scrupulous care. Not only did the expert typists at the Henry E. Huntington make their copies word-perfect, but line-perfect also, so that the copy could be compared with the original quickly and accurately. My chief business at first was to compare the typescript to the -photograph, enlarged for easier reading. as haunes intended to be haimes; I knew the felloes, the king-bolt, the ex,. the single-trees and double tree. t I recognized such words It took my husband to explain that shaunts of berries mean a great abundance, and manather o~ horses, a herd of cattle, flock of sheep, covey of quail, hive of bees, ~tc. I well knew the meaning of unboalted flour and smutty flour and unsalted curd, of a burr mill compared to a roller mill. way I was familiar with many frontier folkways. 19 In the same In regard to differing interpretations, I remember that in one record an inserted parenthesis in pencil had been interpreted (went to seed store to buy). Without knowing this I saw it as (went to see a stove to buy) and by checking and by noting that the date was in January and there was snow, I decided that the latter was correct. The item tells also that stoves were available and that he might be able to buy one. In transcribing these diaries, there is always the problem of the punctuation or lack of it. Much may be said in favor of dividing the sentences by placing in periods and capital letters where they belong, or where it seems that they belong. Yet l , have found so many times wn~rt the meaning was completely changed that I have come to the point where I leave it out unless it is placed in brackets. You ....., have all heard examples where punctuation has been misfread, as "What do you think? I will shave you for nothing and give you a drink ! 11 which was punctuated as "What! Do you think I will shave you for nothing and give you a drink?" Truly the punctuation is as important as the words; sometimes it is more important. I think of some of the lists of names where no commas have separated them. This poses a problem where the typist must stop and take time to separate and identify each, inserting the bracketed comma between. I am particularly emphatic in insisting that nothing be omitted. The researcher has a right to see the complete manuscript. In his use of it, he may delete as he pleases, since much will not be pertinent to his work. One writer will cut an item that is of supreme importance to 20 anothe r. For examp le: Paul Cheesm an in writin g of Joseph Smith' s accoun t of the first vision as record ed by Alexan der Neibau r, used a very short excerp t, and did not mentio n that the story was being to l d to one Mr. Bonney . I had been lookin g everyw here for this man, Bonney , so that this had a specia l signif icance for me . I copied the entire entry for the day, line perfec t and word perfec t from the origin al and though t it much more empha tic than the shorte ned and punctu ated one of Mr. Cheesm an. Then, as I said before , I found in this source an item of great value to had. me th~~~m eant nothin g to him . I have often to l d the incide nt of our work in the FERA, when the girl who was copyin g the diary of Myron Abbott came to open rebell ion: "I wish you would give me someth ing else to copy. this," she said. 11 1 1m sick and tired of 1 can well believ e this who le projec t is just a waste of govern ment money, if this is the kind of thing we are trying to save. This man does nothin g but work on the dam. brush and rocks that are put in the dam. weeks now. He tells every day about the Ditto, ditto, ditto, for two Then an entry or two about other things , and now the dam is gone again and the ditch broke in fifty-t wo places ." She had her point. Myron Abbott was the wateif master ,whose busine ss it was to record the work on the dam. A few years after the copy was made, a govern ment engine er told me that this little record was worth its weigh t in go l d had found. as the only real histor y of the Virgin River - anyone Though it covere d only a few years, it did give tangib le and accura ge proof of the floods of that time. Truly 11 one man's meat is anothe r man's poison ." What a blessi ng it is that now we no l onger must copy these on a typew riter, but may have xerox or photo static copies made~w hich are as good as the origin al. With these avJila ble 21 resear ch takes on a whole ,,,, ' new dimension. There is no need to argue about what was written, when the actual handwriting is reproduced. But the research scholar still has a challenge. person who wrote the manuscript was in error. Perhaps the If it were done years after the event, there is always the possibility of unintentional distortion. Perhaps you have seen, as I have, stories grow by retelling. One case in point is the account of John L. Ginn of his trip through Utah soon after the massacre at the Mountain Meadows. He insists that he was with the first company over the ground after the tragedy, yet in a letter published in the Valley Tan, we learn that he did not leave Salt Lake City until November 6, and traveling with a wagon train . could not have arrived there before late November, more than two and a half months after the massacre. Be f- or~ this time at. lellS'ff,iother peopcle had written descriptions of dismembered bodies and scattered bones, with many wolves at their ghastly work1 Ginn declared that "none of the bodies had been mutilated or disfigured by decay, the weather being cold, with a few patches of snow on the ground." The best answer to his account is found where he declares that: The foregoing constitute the chief incidents of interest that came under my personal observation during my eventful trip across the continent in that tragic year of 1857, as I recall them to memory after forty-six years of a busy life on the Pacific frontier, and I present them in the hope that their perusal may interest ' all who read the foregoing9 My contention is that the person handling an original document is honor-bound to reproduce it accurately, whether he thinks it is true or not. / He may bracket his opinions at the end, but not change by any "jot nor tittle" the work of the author, for this manuscript may be used by many people searching for different facts. 22 I am especia lly suspicio us of the three dots •.. , and so on, as my dictiona ry interpre ts them. They are so indefin ite; one never knows I shall never forget the shock which how much deletion they represen t. I felt when I read the whole of the John Quincy article so often quoted; "It is by no means improba ble that some future text-boo k for the use of generati ons yet unborn will contain a question somethin g like this: 'What historic al American of the nineteen th century has exerted the most powerfu l influenc e upon the destinie s of his countrym en?' . •. • " he were ready for instant baptism. It sounds as if Yet, by the same use of these three dots placed at the beginnin g, it cou l d read that the writer thought the Mormons were all demente d, cheerfu lly mad, like the inmates of a mental hospita l he had recently visited. Likewis e, I am troubled by a Mormon scho l ar/ who will declare as s u.r ious a documen t which he admits has been accepted at face value for over a half a century , and will then proceed to quote from this false and spurious documen t phrases which prove the point he wishes to make, studiou sly ignoring a statemen t three paragra phs beyon~ and just over the page, which would throw serious doubts over his whole thesis . ."'- The in-fcre.n~ is that" setting out to PROVE a point, only materia l which will support the thesis should be used. Speaking again of the work of reproduc ing the manuscr ipts, I find that the copyist must also use her reasonin g in the use of dates. think of an example of my own. I In copying the account of John M. Higbee-- signed Snort, we found a clear and accurate narrativ e, with the exact wording of the "Orders" which he himself had carried to Lee. There followed a discussi on of reasons why the men who had been innocen tly drawn into this cou l d not stand trial. Clearly the article was written immedia tely ~! 8ftPr the first trial of John D. Lee. The story fills ejghteen pages . rf an or d inary note..)>ook ; the handwriting is clear and deliberate , the 0 . wording st11died . Tliis man blames the app roaching army for the hysteria which suread throu_irhou t the t,erri tory arm and drill and sing battle sonp,s . af\d. aroused all the Mo rmons to AccordinF to him , the Indians were all the more inflamed, anFry 8nd e8ger for revenge for wrongs they had ~uffered at Holden . He may not have known-- he did no t me n t i on if if he did - that Jacob Hamblin had taken ten or twelve Indian chiefs with .r im for a conference with President Brigham Young . reports tLeir be i n g there on September 1, north « lhe Journal Hi~tory m and Brigham Young, s J)iary carries this very si~nificant entry for the same date: Kanosh thP, PaTaunt chief with several of his band visited me gave them some council and nresents A spirit seems to be takeing possession of the Indians to assist Israel I can hardly restrain them from exterminating the Americans Higbee says the Indians were out of hand , angry and threatening; he tells of the various messengers and quotes , ver,:hatim the orders which he himself carried from Isaac C . Hai_irht to John D. Lee--orders from the co.Ion~\ l!,ommanding , William H. Dame , in his own handwritinp.: . The story is told in all its horror . The recent trial is referred to as being manned by II.irresponsi• bl e h o b oes,II who knew nothing of the conditions . is clearly It all rinp.:8 true to the times . But the date at the end 1894 . Every person who has seen it has been prompt to say that is riRht , even with a magnifying glass the same is true . it . In this we erred . We should have followed with date. S In somewhat the same published in the Snrine- ---- Li87~ the true way, in the Diary of. Tbmmy Gordon 1967 issue of the U~t~a~h~~~~_!H!_:i~s~t!£0ErJi~c~a~l~QS,~u~a2r:Jt~e:..:rt l~y: the distance between the two graves is given as 150 yards . only to be on the ground to see that here is an error. of Nephi Johnson who in his account said, some time l ,, We left One needs 'i th the exception ".After marchinp; alon g for all others used the terms Na half a mile ,-. ''about a half a mile ; 'a half a mile or more ."' Either Tommy exnected to write 750 yards or 150 rorls , both of which would be a little less thFn the half mile stiuulated by all other reporters . ~ I use these to show only that no ma_tter how vigilent. we try to be , we can not avoid some errors . I was askea to tc0lk tonip:ht about some of my experiences and contributions in the field of collecting and preserving manuscripts . The temptation has been stronp; to de£.cribe indivirlual i terns which have brought into focus some of our early practices-- like quoting George Laub on the Law of Adoption , or Oliver B . Huntinp;ton on the activities of his brother Dimick in the Danite Band, or John Pulsipher on the winter campaign against Johnston ' s Army , celebration in Las Yegas . or George W. Bean on the ~ourl~ f July InsteAd , I have chosen to try to express my general philosophy in the handling~ hese records . to see each steadily and see it whole . I want to preserve the author's personality , his experiences , his contributions . a nerson as well a~ a Saint . Like Carlyle , I want I want to see him as I want to pass on his contribution honestly , so that others of the future may make their internretations from an hone"f>t reproduction . I have marle only a sma11 beginning myself, but librar i es throu ,i:;hou t the nation are c ontinuing to collect and preserve these documents . I knd I feel th?t for all of us the first ~~ best - pro c edure is 1ihen, • weigh and conside r just to c opy , wo rd • for - word , the original . tAlun ou r e valuations , presentingAfairly and honestly , without taking material out of context or trying to shape. it to prove 011r point, These people should shall be fortunate to do as well o stand by their records . We hel p and alo ng , to ack now led ge the I hav e tri ed , as I wen t I mu st adn to the and my men y fri ert ds. enc ot1 raf e I!l ent of my fam ily wr jtin g an art icl e who fir st fOa ded me int o lis t Dr . A.R . Mo rte nse n, iss ue of the Qn art erl y, ks for the Sum mer 195 1 on the Sou the rn Uta h Par com e to wo rk at lea ve Dix ie Co lleg e and and lat er per sua ned me to s of Ho sea 8rt ers , ed itin g the :Dia rie Hi sto ric al So cie ty hea dqu o~ the Dix ie db the Ce nte nni al Iss ue to me set n the d -an utSto the "&LGrtcrly. eed . , The n, fol low ing r. Mor ten son ver y muc h ind Co tto n :Mi ssio n " I ow e15 )-., Sto ut it per mi tte d me to fin ish the who v ole Co ttA ere Ev Dr. /\ him con sta nt enc our aFe men t. rec ord s anc t has Riv en ~e eve nts far els e, I am gra tef ul thR t R hin ryt eve ve abo ann er Ov the of my ,no rk: hav e mad e po ssi ble muc h awa y and not of my mak inpch see 1'l.ed a p:ood let ter by Da le Morp:i:rn wha dis cov ery of the Mitc he l ws Ma ssa cre ge ttin g the Mo unt ain Me ado in ay del g lon the for rea son Lee by the of re f ins tat ing Joh n D. ion act the and ss, pre \,;,off the delE iy at the end of a sim i] E1 i; lonp.; ~D.S. 4hu rch au tho rit ies Joh n Do vle Lee . pan y in bri ng iw , out Com 1rk Cl1 H. r thu Ar bj the for you r gra tef ul- -an d mo st of all For all the se thi nR s I am me to hav e any It is a bum blin g thi ng for t. irh ton e her ce sen pre 1 so ma ny- -com e so far , but to hav e I Th.ANI~ YOU • 1 For a number of years these records were in the st. George Temple basement, along with all the other stake and ward records. When the remodeling program began, they were hauled to the tabernacle and piled in great disorder upon the floor. I told the stake president that if he would get someone to build some shelves there, I would be responsible for placing Instead, he called the general ofthe books and listing them. fice in Salt Lake City, and Brother Andrew Jenson came down. He selected the most important and had them shipped to headquarters. It was so long before they were unpacked that some people began to doubt that Books C and D really existed. I had extensive notes from them taken in 1928 and 1934. 2 Letter on official Works Progress Administration stationery, Washington, D. C., November l, 1934. The originals of all the letters cited are in the possession of the author. 3 Letter dated November 10, 1934, from Dr. Dorothy Nyswander, Department of Psychology, University of Utah. 4 Letter dated ARril 11, 1936, from Juanita Brooks to Dr. Luther H. Evans, in answer to his of March 28, 1936. 5 Letter dated April 20, 1937, from J. Brooks to Dr. Luther H. Evans. 6 This story, told in James Amasy Little's Jacob Hamblin, A Narrative of His Personal Experience, as a Frontiersman, Missionary to the Indians and Explorer . . . (Salt Lake City, 1881), has been retold in many places and has become a family legend. 7For detail of travel over the road immediately after the massacre at the Mountain Meadows, see Juanita Brooks, The Mountain Meadows Massacre (Stanford, 1950}, 80-98, or (2nd ed., Norman, 1963), Chapter Seven. 8 John I. Ginn, "Person Recollections of John I. Ginn" (typescript, Utah State Historical Society), 53. 9 This account of John M. Higbee is published in the 1950 edition of Mountain Meadows Massacre, 171-77. 10 citations here regarding the march of the doomed company are all from the 1950 edition of Mountain Meadows Massacre. "When they had pased Clingensmith's Co. John M. Higbee: one-fourth of a mile, women & children were sent up the same " road. After they had past same point about a half mile . • (p. 174). "The Indians will let them past half Daniels. Macfarlane: • 179} (p. " . • a mile or more . J Philip Klingensmith: after said emigrants had marched about a half mile toward Cedar City . . . (p. 183). George A. Smith writing from Parowan: after proceeding about a mile and a half • . . (p. 189). Report of Superintendent of Indian Affairs J. Forney, "They proceeded about one and a half mile toward Cedar • • (p. 199) • 11 •• 11 11 ••• 11 11 Mrs. Brooks, well-known historian and author and member of the Board of Trustees of the Utah State Historical Society, presented this address at the Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the Society held in Logan, September 21, 1968. j NOTES For a number of years these records were in the Temple 1basement, along with all the other Stake and Ward Records. When the remodeling program began, they were hauled to the Tabernacle and piled in great disorder upon the floor. I told the Stake President that if he would get sorreone to huild some shelves there, I eould be responsible for placing the books and listing them. Instead, he called the General uffice in Salt Lake City, and Brother Andrew Jenson came down. He selected the most important and had them shipped to headquarters. It was so long before they were unpacked that some people began to doubt that Books C and D really existed . I had extensive notes from them taken in 1928 and 1934. Letter on official WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION stationery, 2Washington, D.C. Nov. 1, 1934. Original on file. Letter dated Nov . 10, 1934 from Dr. Dorothy Nyswahder, Department of Psychology, University of ~tah . 3- 4- d.~+,cl.. 11., \C\-,. <-> i~ LetterA Juanita -Brooks to Dr. Luther H. Evans, -AflFil 11, 1,,6, in answer to h~s of March 28, 1936. do.te.cl .!\~~,,~st,~~ 5- LetterA J . Brooks to Dr. Luther H. Evans , •••·a . JCl~E& AntQAAf This story, told in ALittle's, l.ifQ 20, ]'F,9, Aharra,bi>tbb~~ p ~ ~ , Cl-OC{ g& Jracob Hamblin- ,An!:..J~,e,'la 6- ' '"' h/JS$lbnt1Jw .L.. hta.«, been retold in many pl~ces, and has become a family legend. lhd.<a, --, TD 'ffl. 11,,,,df.vttu For detail of travel over the road immediately after the 7massacre at the }buntain l'Jeadows, see Brooks, 'Ihe Mountain .l".eadows M:ts~, , : v'l.t ($ ', J (Stanford Press, 1950. pp . 80-98) . Or Ibid Oklahoma University Press, ·((!__ Chapter Seven , ~";;:1from Gt;:~ ~ ~ ~ . CO"!>allY .JohA. l(t, Higbee: '' When they had pas~d ~i~;:nsmi th I s Cq~ one- ~, the same r0ad. After fourth of a mile, women & children were sent ~ they had pasbei Wu saire poip.t about a half a mile •••• fl \p. 171J, d,. Macfarlane: 111he Indians will let them pas ~ c half a mile or more1 o - ~ • . 179), Klingensmith: "• ••jt;ter said emigrants had rr;a.rched about a ~ half JI. mile toward Cedar City, ••• fl ( p . 183). oc ed · ng ei .. 1_._ George A. Smith) writ~ng fr~gi.!}.~~an : " ter about a mile and a half ••• 11 (,p. 189..). ~~-TD-"C-YIM( ~"1i~,t.(..(.j[:t£(1J "66/WW:W.CJiL. -T'Flf.,. Seia:ite J;lggw,ll,Q;ia:{; :WO, 4£.,,<. T~lis bes bi~ in~ fl ey proceeded about one.:. and a .half mfle.,toward Cedar •••• 11 (.p. 19V , ~-Jo\\t'-:t.G-,~n)•~ 9.(,4,.,1:i,\~\ &\j~-r,~"l-t°"~' 5"!),