P. T. Reilly correspondence with George S. Tanner, 1978

Copies of typed letters from P. T. Reilly of Sun City Arizona, to George S. Tanner in Salt Lake City during 1978, continuing their conversation about Mormon pioneers in northern Arizona and related topics, including their efforts to locate information and historical documents, and to interview aging family members of the pioneers. Topics include Lot Smith, Jesse N. Smith, Peter Shirts at Paria, Jacob Hamblin, and the problem of items going missing at the Church Historical Department, as well as frequent commentary on current events and politics. Includes typed transcripts of letter from the First Presidency under Wilford Woodruff to Lot Smith and Jesse N. Smith in 1888-1891, and letters from the First Presidency under J. F. Smith in 1904 and 1909 concerning Blacks and the priesthood.

January 27, 1978 Dear George, I finally heard from Lavar Pratt and it appears that Leonard Arrington's letter is regarded as being legal tender for the pioneer mileage marker. Thank you for your efforts in this matter. It seems that we must maintain a pragmatic attitude in this acquisitions business or we might not have all that is possibleo I know the brethren like to have such matters handled at the lowest possible level but they should not be so corporation-minded and should thank God that the rank and file membership values a letter from the leaders. Right after receiving my copy of Leonard's letter I wrote Lavar and Richard Oman, assistant to Florence Jacobsen. I told him that I was sure Lavar was satisfied and that I would bring the marker to SLC with me next spring. If he needed it before then he could pick it up at my home or authorize someone else to do soo I advised against shipping because sandstone is fragile and a sharp jolt could split it. At the same time I offered to donate a ringbolt from my own collection, no strings attached, which was identified by Bp. Frank Johnson as having come from the 1885 ferryboat. This was December 19, 1977. Well, I finally heard from Lavar but I have not yet had a reply from Richard Oman. Neither did he visit Lavar at the end of December. They are peculiar people with whom to deal and they make it difficult to do them a favoro Here he was writing me letters at Sun City while I was seeing him every day at the Archives, yet he can't acknowledge the offer of a gift in five weekso I know the National Park Service would love to have the eyebolt in their display in the Hayden Visitors Center at Glen Dam. Please scratch my request for the death date of Winnifred Johnson which I asked you to obtain last October. I now have ito Jay Haymond's wife is descended from that family. Susie noted this item in the G.S. which may be of interest to yous In the M/F of Agreements & Crew Lists out of Liverpool in 1853 there was a John Maby Tanner, age 23, of Bristol, who was aboard the Elizabeth Wood out of Liverpool. Relative? I enclose the NET article you wanted returned and add another about him from our paper. Also other items about J. Morris Richards, the Whitings, and St. Johns. I hope you have not taken on too big a job in this J.M. Tanner work. It seems to me that you are starting nearly from scratch, something you have not had to do previously. We have not had as much rain as California but have had 2.05 inches since January 1. This is 2.05 inches above normal. Our snow is below average, however. Thus far, our coldest night was the AM of January 25, 37 degrees. Best regards, yr P. T. Reilly 1 -- February 26, 1978 Dear George, Glad to hear from you after such a long interval and I am relieved that you did not have to return to the hospital. We hear some bad things about early releases, indifferent instructions, etc. The long time between letters was beginning to worry me. I finally had a nice reply from Oman the day I posted my last letter to you. They appear satisfied that I am on the level. I had the impression that they distrusted me, possibly thinking that I was trying to wind up with the road mileage marker through deceit. Hell's Bells. Had I wanted it, all I had to do was ask Lavar for it several years agoo I don't think Oman ever intended to see Lavar but was trying to put pressure on me because they did not trust me to transfer the marker to them. As far as I am concerned, I have had their interests at heart more than some of their own brethren. As for example, the U of A paid $2500.00 for the Little Colorado Stake Minute Book. Rilla received $3500.00 for the Jacob Hamblin Journal. At the time that I sent the Kanab u.o. collection to you I knew I could have gotten $5000 for it and the Mace Journals from the Huntington Library. Lucky for HDC that I didn't need that amount, but how many, out of sheer greed , would turn it down? They should realize that the Saints don't have a monopoly on integrity and not automatically distrust everyone who is not a member of the church. Being familiar with the way in which things are more or less shut down during Conference, I think it would be to my best interests to come to SLC after Spring Conference. I assume that this will begin on the evening of April 7 and run through the 9th. Is this correct? April 6 falls on a Thursday this year. If my assumption is correct, and you happen to be talking to Don Schmidt or anyone near his level, you might mention that I will not be in SLC as early as I had previously thought. I was going to lead a small group down the Paria on a four-day backpack but have postponed the trip due to excessive snow in the watershed which would mean water too deep in the narrows for comfort, as well as inconvenient quicksand. Therefore I will be in SLC this spring but not in late March after the Easter week as I had once thought. I will bring the mileage marker and ringbolt with me. While I had sense enought to latcht, Onto the ringbolt and ascertain its background, I really have no use for it and always knew I would give it to some archives. For significant display, this would boil down to the NPS or HDC, and the latter has done more for me and my work than the government agency. Of course the NPS would display the item with no strings attached and I think it is the only known item to survive from one of the early ferries. I'm not sure whether they comprehend this but then they might have something under cover. I hope no one thought I was hardnosed for insisting that Lavar receive recognition for the marker from someone higher than the third level of the coal mine. They should be gratified that they have a membership that would prize such a letter. Communication from top to bottom has always been a Mormon strength, especially during the first 75 years of the church. This has not been true of any other religion. OK, if we are ever in Kanab at the same time, I will introduce you and Lavar. I soft-pedal the fact that he and Clara operate the state liquor store in Kanab. That is not so bad. In Escalante, the bishop's wife operates this facility and I have interviewed her while she did business. That was quite a find, the handcart journal, and by a woman, too. Please tell me more. Which company? Did you place it at U of U or at HDC? You may raise your 1978 rainfall figure from 2.05 to 4.10 for our area. This is three times over normal and most welcome. Jay Redd says they are out of trouble in San Juan Co, and Kane and Garfield counties have stopped crying. ~lagstaff has had about 80 inches of snow since January 1. I thought the J.M. Tanner book would entail massive research on your part because I was not aware that you had much of a file on him. Any writer is tempted to go with what is easily available, as witness our friend Crampton, but sometimes the truth has been ignored or a trail left to misdirect a nosey person. Somehow I place JMT as a man who disguised his real motivation, or as one might say, a more than average complex character. Don't let these high IQs fool you. Some people have their talents compressed into ways that impress others with how smart they are, yet they are woefully inadequate in other respects. I had a boss once who had an IQ of 172 and this was about 25 points higher than my own. Yet I could never develop much respect for him and he was not successful in his position. He was subsequently removed and placed in a staff job where he could shine and impress people. In fact, I thought he was rather dumb in putting things together which seemed obvious to me. Anyway, glad to hear that everything is falling into place for you. I enjoyed the clips you sent and am aware of these problems in our society. They are universal and are mainly due to the breakdown of the family, altho older generations had them in degree. The thing we like about Sun City is that we don't have to contend with teenagers. But have you ever known any generation that really established communication with the next? I enclose a few clips which may interest you, along with a copy of one which has wide circulation in Sun City (re the Carter family). Did you read the M.S. Evans article about Sen. Orrin Hatch? He must be \J1,lite a guy. Also enclosed is my last letter from Karl Larson. Please return this after reading. I consider the Walker Diaries to be as important to So. Utah as the Frioff Nielson Journals are to the Little Colorado. In fact, they contain information found in no other source. They should have been printed long ago. If you can put in a good word for this project anyplace, you will be doing the history researcher a very good turn. I can't understand why Leonard Arrington has not given Karl's work a push. Karl stopped with his "Master's", never g ot a Ph.D. but no one has better knowledge on Dixie. It clouded up last night and might rain tonight and tomorrow to add to the 4.10 figure. And we have buds on all citrus, blossoms on lemon and lime. Outside of that spring is here - or just around the corner. Best regards, ,- tl P. T. Reilly March 10, 1978 Dear George, Thank you for making the call to Leonard Arringto n in re the Walker Journal s. Karl is afraid that his time on earth is very short and hopes to live to see them in print. They should have been printed long ago, and Utah Mormon history will be benefitt ed when this takes place. You really shouldn 't fault Karl's penmans hip. Five years ago his writing was excelle nt, the lines level. The poor guy has catarac ts so bad he has to use a powerfu l magnify ing glass under a strong light, with work held eight inches from his eyes to even read. He works under incredib ly difficu lt conditio ns and I wonder that he even makes the effort. He galley-p roofed and indexed his last two books under this severe handicap o He has more guts than most of us. I always type in caps and am sure I use a new ribbon to give him contras t. He can't even see to type any more. You raise an interest ing point that had not occur.red to me - when I am too old to backback o I don't think that time is here yet. I am only 66 and have taken good care of myself. I have sense enough not to try to do the things I could do when I was in my twentie s, or even fifties, and I have never bitten off more than I could chew at any given time. I habitua lly exercise every day before dayligh t and Susie and I knock off a brisk walk around ~art of a nearby golf course, 1.87 miles in a constan t range of 27-28 minutes . And my wife accompa nies me on these lengthy backpack s or simple hikes. Lucky the couples who do things togethe r. I guess there are some things we just don't see eye-to-e ye, or else you don't understa nd where I stand. You appear to be trying to fit me with shoes that I can't wear. I have not, and never have, supporte d Carter. I didn't vote for him. In fact I was so disguste d at being given the choice of voting for Twiddle Dee or Twiddle Dum that I did not vote. When it became clear (at least to me) that there was no capable conservative availab le and some Democra t was a cinch to be elected, I found Carter the least objectio nable. He had a good educatio n in a modern field, discharg ed an importan t job in the Navy, and seemed to believe what he peddled . Allowing for politica l expedien cy to get elected, I judged him to be vastly superior to the likes of Humphrey, McGovern, Kennedy , Bayh, or Church. I still do, but this doesn't mean I like him. Despite all the eulogis tic bovine extract that was aired when Humphrey died, I think that this nation was very lucky to have escaped ever having him in the presiden cy. He was the darling of the liberal do-good ers and the man that I feared would be elected. When I said Ford had a Boy Scout mentali ty, I meant he was too credulou s, too unsophi sticated to be, a good leader. He would escort a little old lady across a busy street and return for another without realizin g that a mean little kid was waiting to mug her anq steal her purse on the other side. The Russians sure mugged Ford and got away with it. They are doing the same on Carter. Since a Cub Scout is an embryon ic Boy Scout and ascribes to the same high moral values, I can't see how you can say Carter is one. He is much too dishone st to be any kind of a Scout. He might not have lied to us as much as Nixon did, but he has lied on several occasion s. See enclosed clip. I deplore Carter's decisions on Andy Young (I ' d restore relations with Idi Amin just to make A.Y . our ambassador to him) , Sorenson, Warnke , Arthur Burns, Blumenthal, Lance, Ray Marshall, etc. as well as inaction on the coal strike , encouragement of gov't spending and thus fueling inflation , kowtowing to big labor, and a crackpot Keynesian monetary policy . So much for that , and try those shoes on someone who can wear them . Well , I see that you lost your beloved Judge Ritter who has joined the fleecy cloud occupied by Gov . Woods, Judges McKean, Boreman, and Cradlebaugh . I could hear the collective sigh of relief clear down in Arizonao Our local paper has been running a serial on T. Henry Moray , the radiant energy crackpot who was excommunicated quite a while back. Since I vaguely remember the man and his idea, I found the review interesting. I also see where Rep . McKay (D.Utah) has introduced a bill to mark the route of the Mormon pioneers across the plains . This doesn ' t make much sense because 7000 to 8000 people had preceded them on the Oregon Trail prior to 1847 . The House Interior Committee is chaired by Mo Udall. But no matter what they do on this , I won ' t be nearly as bothered as I am by the Democrat coverups on Koreagate, Tip O' Neill and those two crooked Congressmen from Pennsylvania . Sometimes I wonder if there are a dozen honest men in Washington . I received a most interesting letter from Orderville today . It seems that there has been more division among the people of Colorado City, with splintering taking place in families . Thanks for the confirmation on Conference dates . 1:J:' hink we may aim to arrive about April 16. Do you need anything from the drenched sunny southland? I ' ll try to remember to bring the marker. Wouldn't they skin me if I didn't? Arizona now has its third governor in five months, and I think our third is the best of the three . At least he did a fine job as Att'y General. The DiConcini family appears to be upset that Babbitt will run on his own and may split the Democrats to allow a minority Republican to sneak in. I think there are too damn many DiConcinis holding office now . The GOP had a great set-to in Mesa .and stuck many pins in Donkey dolls . Glad your J.M. Tanner research came off so well and quickly. Now you must come up with a superb effort of interpretation . Yes , I agree that professional athletes draw salaries that are completely unrealistic . Those of basketball and baseball players annoy me even more than those of football players . A seven foot dropout (usually the equivalent of one) who can't spell any word over three letters and whose verbalizing consists of "you know" draws more money than people who are educated. Some labor officials are in these brackets, too o The idiotic public is to blame for paying those prices . I boycott all professional sports except spring training baseballo($2.50 per seat). Our crooked government allows the owners to write off team losses against their businesses, so John Q. Taxpayer stands the freight . Best regards, P. T. Reilly April 1, 1978 Dear George, Glad to hear from you and to read those choice clippings. I guess there were two sides to Judge Ritter. All I really know about him was the profile on Sixty Minutes a few weeks ago (or months?). Wallace pictured him as a self-made thorn in the sides of the Saints, altho I have never heard him cussed or discussed. I thought he made a good decision as Special Master in the Arizona vs. California water case. Utah's governor didn't make any points with me when he arbitrarily dispossessed USHS from the Mansion. He has cost Utah taxpayers an unnecessary sum of dollars as well as a lot of trouble to many people. I hope they make him pay at the next election. Perhaps some of his fiends are remodeling contractors. The sad truth is that in our system of government a man has to be a good politician to get elected but can be totally lacking in statesmanshipo The voters don't seem to grasp anything beyond their wee small worlds, and our foreign policy reflects it. I can't share your charitable views on Andy Young. He seems intent on giving Africa to the Russians and Cubanso Just because you are a good guy, Susie copied the sketch of Josephine Snow from Karl's book. He also prints a letter which ES wrote to all four women. Josephine appears to have been very capable and ran a good family home. Karl always speaks favorably of J.M. Tanner and appears to know quite a bit about him. Karl gave equal billing to all four of the ES wives in the four sketches and also mentions each at various times in the text. Do you want me to bring my copy with me to SLC in April? Or anything else-such as raisins or fig jam? We expect to check in at Motel 6 on April 16. We just gave up on getting an apartment sight unseen. Too much of a grab bag The Mormons ought to mark their trail where it forked from the Oregon Trail to enter Salt Lake Valley. No one could fault this, but when they take over the entire Oregon Trail as one they broke it's like tbetail wagging the dog. How is the parking situation at the new quarters for USHS? The old facilities were not good as the small lot barely sufficed for the staff, and visitors had to park on the street. But it could be worse. U of U's parking problem is small col!U'ared to that at ASU and the papers harp about it constantly. They now ut~e distant lots and have set up shuttle buses on 8 minute intervals. With all the good minds in our universities, one would expect more of them to solve their parking problems better than they do. BYU does a fair job but I got a ticket there on my last visit and I had a legal visitor's card in my windshield. Rain again today. We now have 6.68 inches since January 1, more than 4.5 inches above our average. The range is green and the desert is covered with wildflowers. How come U of U didn't beat Notre Dame with all the support from our house? We detest the ND coach and really hoped the Utes could take them. It was close up to the very last. Best regards, P. T. Reilly Sun City, Ariz. May 14, 1978 Dear George, I'm glad the human welcome to Utah was warmer than that of the elements. We had snow and rain going, snow and rain while there, and rain and snow on our ,trip south. And you guessed it, more snow and rain at Escalante and also from there to home. The weather finally gave up on us about 20 miles south of Flagstaff. But it is sunny here. In fact, yesterday hit 92 and today was 100 even on our patio. We had a pretty good stay at SLC. I came away without getting a halfdozen items I wanted but it wasn't because they didn't look. Much of the old material has been refiled and even when I called out the old box and folder numbers, they still came up empty. I sent Jim Kimball a list of items I know are there someplace and said if they can come up with good callouts, I will return later to get them and will speak to the Andrew Jenson Club at the same time. I also identified about 90 percent of the W.H. Broach photo collection for them. (Bill Slaughter and Randy Dixon). Nothing has been typed up yet but I have a couple of items which will be of interest to you. I did note the reel, volume, and page number of all letters to the Tanners and have put these on a separate sheet. Got six to J.M. and one to Seth B. Nathan Tanner Jr. appears to have had some girl trouble but I did not pursue it. You have the pages ih case you want to. You might want to look at the presidential incoming letters to J.M. as this set CR/1/20 First Presidency is only the outgoing. Glad help Hope that you got some action on the Theron Hall glass plates without my because I'm busier than a one-armed paper-hanger with the hives. this collection lives up to expectations and that Bro. Bingham sees the plates travel on edge. I only planted six rows of potatoes at Escalante as all the natives said to hold up on the tender vegetables. Each row was 110 feet long so the forthcoming crop should last a 74-year old gal even if she isn't Irish. I saw in the Tribune while we were in SLC that the Belvedere Apts. are going to be turned into a fancy condominium shortly. Have not seen Utah by Chas P. Is he pushing it as a lil ole potboiler? May not go to Texas as my cousin who was to serve as guide to the pioneer family holdings is under the weather and can't travel. We should stay home and work anyway. That's about it for now. P.S. Just heard it got up to 107° in Phoenix on Saturday! 1 June 5, 1978 Dear George, I am reasonably sure that in going to Mormon Lake from Sunset one would take the road to Tuba City and about 10-12 miles past the mouth of Canyon Diablo, turn south to ascend the divide between Anderson and Padre Canyons. The Tusayan 1891 map USGS sheet should show it. Yes, Sam Taylor should be an interesting correspondent. Ray gave me his address and suggested I write him, but I really had no reason and didn't do it. I noted your letter in the Campbell polygamy article in the recent UHQ. It was a good, candid letter and the article was terrific. Also the otner one by Cannon. This issue of the Quarterly was outstanding, tho the authors are not going to make any points in certain quarters. I can back up your opinion one hundred percent and think there was always feeling, no matter how well the wives got alongo Warren Johnson had about as amicable a relation between his two wives as anyone could have, but still it came out when the chips were down. I have recorded some good material in this field. Will use some in Lee's ~erry. We spent the last ten days of May in Texas and Oklahoma. Saw the Alamo for the first time, also my grandfather's and great-grandfather's ranches. A cousin owns the latter and he has several oil wells pumping. Even pipes his own gas into his house to be independent of one utility. We came home with some old f ashioned hickory smoked ham and bacon. Prices in Texas are much cheaper than elsewhere in the west. Gas is 48.9 to 53-9¢ and it doesn't ping. Ham, eggs, hashbrowns, biscuits, grits, cream gravy and coffee, $1.80. The first three and toast are $2.45 in SLC and elsewhere, plus 35¢ for coffee. Good LDS really save here, but so do we due to buyers' resistance. What goes with Jerald and Sandra Tanner's pamphlet? Are these dissidents from your tribe? I received a single page ad from Bits and Pieces, P.O. Box 8766, SLC, advising that their pamphlet is f or sale along with their rejoinder to Dr. Clandestine. Also offer your Joseph City book, among otherso If you didn't get this I'll send it along in my next letter. The Cannon article is right in line with the Cowley-Taylor case and I'd like to see the minutes of the fragmented Twelve that made the decision. Yes, A.Will is kicking out the end of his coffin right now. The fundamentalists have a good deal of evidence on their side for the continuation of the abominable practice, but if women continue to be stupid, who can help them? My latest information is that Lavar Pratt has received no confirmation of my delivery of the pioneer road marker. Richard Oman told me that Lavar and I would both receive acknowledgements for the marker and the fer~y ring bolt. I told him not to worry about me but to see that Levar received acknow l edgement. I know how bureaucracies are, so possibly you could give Bro. Oman a telephone call. Best regards, --- June 21, 1978 Dear George, Found your report of the latest revelation backgroun d to be highly penetratin g and amusing, if somewhat cynical. It made our paper twice - the revelation and the induction of the first Black. But there has been much less flap than I expected, with only two views in letters to the editor; one pro, one con. Ah, those faithful. Why can't they be more faithful such as Jesse N. Smith when he came right out and said that the 1890 Manifesto was a political decision, not a divine one. Thus far, the latest remains unmention ed by my LDS friends except you. I admire Pres. Kimball for biting the bullet and making the decision instead of passing it along as did his predecessors . This morning's sports page said that Black athletes will likely stop their boycott of BYU. a ~ess there are simply too many more important subjects these days- lnflation , taxes and Prop.13, foreign policy, Africa, oil, etc. I enclose copies of lette~s that may be of interest, also the Bits and Pieces dodger. Note items J, 6, and 10. You aren't moonlight ing, are you? The HDC thank you certifica te arrived the day I mailed my last letter to you. I had told Bro Oman that I didn't need one but wanted the Pratts to get theirs. It certainly took them a long time, but it is obvious that the theocrati c bureaucra cy isn't getting any smaller. Bro Jim Kimball does appear to be dragging his feet re the list of items which they could not find in April and which were not in the same locations or with the same call numbers of a~few years ago. My request seems to be dying on the vine. I mention this only to insure an answer arriving in today's mail. Some clips of interest. I regret that Florence Jacobsen backed off from my suggestion that LDS support of Mormon historica l sites in Arizona would be helped if they got into the fray. She blandly referred me to the Arizona people, of which there is no greater collection of incompetents, politician s, and socialite s in the West. They write highsounding letters but do nothing. These jobs are plums for patronage , and I fear the Rodriguez couple are jousting with windmills . I have had some bitter experienc es with these Arizona incompete nts. We depart in a couple of days for a trip on Lake Powell from which I will back-pack into a couple of remote areas important te early Mormon history. Should return before the end of the month. Summer arrived with a bang! Best regards, P. T. Reilly ,. ,-78 First Presiden cy, Aug . 8 , 1889 to Larch 26 . 1890 Reel 18, Vol . 21 - (Copied by P. T. Reilly) 1889 ·g JO-th p . 106 SD Tanner, Care Bp 1,1 Tanner Provo . Dear Brother iI have received your commun ications concerni nr; ~,our recomr1e ndation :for the Temple; but I am not in a position to give you a reconne ndation, as the Rishops and Freside nts of Stake. are empower ed --:o do t. is, and we depend~~ n them to >"i ve t ,e br€thrcn c0rt:i.fi cates of this charact er, ,~s they are familiar with their worthin ess . I cannot understa nd why bishop !>rinker ho:f should have denied your request, and if I thougt, t there was time I would write to him to learn from him the cause of his non-acti on in tr.is matter . I enclose herewith the recomme ndation of your Hife. with my endorsem ent ·pon it, so that if she desires to do any work in the Temple she can do so, thou 6 h it does not have the endorsem ent of the Preside nt of the Stake, which all recommends should have . ~ith kind regards , Your Brother W. , oodru:'f " ~R 1 20 p. 817 First Presidency letterbox Reel 16,Vol . 18 -June 5, 1888to Nov . 19,1888 President's Office Salt Lake City, Utah 0 <copied by P. T. Reilly) Nov 5, 1888 Elder Lot Smith Tuba , Yavapai Co., Arizona Dear Brother: ~e have rece·ved a letter ~roro President Jesse N. Smith, o: Snow"'lake, enclosing a letter he had received fror.1 Bishop Brinkerhoof /sic/, o Tuba, dated Oct 22 . From these we learn that there has been some disagreement with you and A. L. Farnsworth, ~nd a trial before the Bishop ' s Court and a decision ren ered thereon, wherein it was decided that you shonld pay J;.L . Farnsworth $1200 . 00, which you agreed to abide and 1::.;ave an order on Presiding Rishop W. B. Preston for the amount. Subsequently you wrote to Bishop Preston, telling him to withhold payment of the order, which was done, and the said order has been returned to Bp. Brinkerhoof or AL Farnsworth, so that the decision of the Bi hop's Court is thus nulli ied. etc. That a proper understandin~ may be had bjr us of this Matter I write to you for your reasons for takin.3 such a courser for if the s : atements of Bp Brinkerhoof are correct, such procPedine s seem to be ver y strange. I trust that, upon receipt of this letter. you will give me such information in this case and of your action therein as shall lead to a speedy and satis actory settlement of any difficulty wh ch may exist. Praying Cod to _, ide you by His g ood spirit into all truth, and hoping to hear from you s ()on, I remain, with kind regards Your Brother 1• • p . 818 '!/ oodruff "President 's O flee Salt Lake Gi ty, lfta.h . r, ov 5, 1888 President ,Jesse t1 . mi th .Snowfl ake, Arizona Dear Brother: Your letter of Oct 29th, with enclosure from Hp. D. I3 rinkerhoof, of .2uba, in relation to Brother Lot Sl"lith, has been received . I have written to .J rother Smith on the subject referred to and shall look for an answer in aue course of mail, upon which I can more readily reply to y our letter, and also that of Bp Brinkerhoof. Can you inform roe what Ward or Stake Brot her Lot Smith considers he holds a standing in, if in any? ·a th kind reeards Your Brother · • v. oodruf f II It, rI J-78 First Presidency, Reel 18, Vol.21 - Aug .8, 1889 to March 26, 1890 (Copied by P. T. Reilly) " Nov 26th, 1889 P• 331 Pres. Jesse N. Smith Snowflake. Dear Brother, Your letter of Oct 28th, enclosing the charge made against Bishop David Brinkerhoof by Brother SB Tanner, has been received. Tou ask for advice in the matter, as you say you have never known of such a case being taken before a High Council. From the information we have received in regard to Brother Tanner's request to obtain a recommend from his Bishop, and the Bishop not f eeling justified in giving him a recommend, and of his subsequent arrival in this Territory, and through his brother•s recommend he was admitted to the Temple under a promise that would satisfy his Bishop, so that he would feel justified in recommendin~ him and that his recommend could be properly filed in the Temple, I am somewhat surprised to f ind that Brother Tanner has made such a charge as he has against Bp Brinkerhoof. It will be proper for you to counsel Brother Tanner to withdraw his charge and proceed to take such a course in the Ward where he resides as to make himself right with the Bishop and all good saints, to repent of his weaknesses and follies, and live the life of a .1.,atter-day Sa int. Such charges cannot be heard and tried by a High 1ouncil, and he should be so informed. regards Trusting this will be satisfactory, and with kindest I am your brother w. Woodruff •• 'l (Copied by P.T. Reilly at HDC p.631 P• 577 4-19-78) First Presidency,R eel 20, Vol.23 Sept.1890-Au g.1891 "May 22 1891 Elder Nathan Tanner Jun. Ogden Dear Brothers I am directed by the First Presidency to say that as long ago as the 1st inst. they wrote to the Presidency of the Weber Stake of Zion a somewhat lengthy letter drawing attention to the peculiarity of your position and urging prompt action in the case in which yourself and Bro Pingree are par~ies. Your Brother Sec Geo Reynolds II May 1, 1891 Presidents L W Shurtliff, C.H. Middleton, and N.G. Flygare. Dear Brethren• The case thst is now pending either before the High Council or Bishop's Court in which Elders Job Pingree and Nathan Tanner Jr are parties, has been brought to our attention. A copy of the resolution adopted by the High Council, and by which these parties were suspended from the privile ges of the priesthood, and to a certain extent from the membership in the church, has also been submitted to us. By this action these brethren are practically disfellowshipped Brother Nathan Tanner Jr feels very deeply the serious consequences which attend the adopting of this resolution and has appealed to us for relief. We do not know the reasons you had for taking this action previous to the hearing of the case, but naturally suppose you must have had good reasons or you would not have adopted a resolution that is unusual if not extraordinary ; but whatever reasons may be, we think immediate steps should be taken to have the case tried and some decision reached concerning it so that these brethren may not be kept in a position so exceedingly unpleasant to every one who values his standing in the church and in the priesthood. It may be that the parties themselves are to blame for the delay, if they are, they should be urged to take immediate action. If the delay be due to either of the tribunals, then we suggest that no time be lost in giving the case a hearing, as the passing of the resolution adopted by the council was three months ago. With kind regards, Your brethren w. Woodruff Geo Q Cannon Jos F. Smith --- July 21, 1978 Dear George, Your letter of July 3 and the UHQ containing the review of your book arrived in the same mail. I should have answered before this but I have been making g ood progress and al l owed my mail to pile upo • I don't want to jump into the same pool of blazing oil that I did last time but I will venture to the edge of said, poml and say that I think the reviewer did a pretty g ood job.· We authors tend to be negative toward any criticism of our work, when in reality we should thank God that we get objective criticism and should pray that we have the humility to profit by it. No matter how much we know, or think we know, there are people out there who know more about certain phases than we do. Good reviewers don't ca l l attention to errors in order to show their knowledge but to warn people not so knowledgable not to fall into the same trap as t h e author. When a reviewer heaps nothing but praise on a book, with rare exceptions you can bet that someone is being political and trying to wrack up some points with one of the big boys. I think you should be very gratified that Wayne Wahlquist devoted as much space to your effort as he did and that he read your book so thoroughly. To my way of thinking, the preceeding issue of the Quarter}y was the most outstanding they have ever printed. I wrote Stan Layton and Miriam Murphy a congratulatory letter and told them that their pipeline, for timing , is equally as g ood as that of Pres. Kimball. But all four articles were exceptional as well as being informative and well done. Stan thanked me for my appreciation but said the issue had generated quite a bit of flak in the Loyd Young manner, I presume. Glad you are enjoying fi g jam. Truth is, we are up to our butts in figs ri ght now and are out of jars. Our grape harvest was July 17 and we got all we wanted. Have the usual amount of raisins getting that way from grapehood in 110 degree weather. Sorry the J .rv: . Tanner letters did not turn out to be more si gnificant but one never knows until he reads. I have a hunch that these presidential letters have been editedo Your letter to the editor re the Jewish professor at USU was a sly poke at / a group that in my opinion can stand a few and has some coming. Undoubtedly the ACLU has done some worthy work but they are so impregnated with dogooders that the gray area is diff icult to delineate. The fundamentalist apostate f rom the Short Creek sect tried to blow the whistle on his exbrethren for using state fundsin pushing their sectarian faith at the expense of g eneral education but failed to generate much interest. If the Lanners aren't happy in a largely Mormon community, why don't they move? If I were Jewish and had the chance to hear another sect's version of the Old Testament, I'd be gratified b ecause my ancestors wrote it. I'm trying to g et Rilla to get off Florence Jacobsen's back a little but not having much luck. Sister Jacobsen came out flatly and told me how difficult Rilla is and I have t o agree. Most Hamblins think Jacob was on a par with Bri gham instead of the bumbling manufactured hero he was. They all clamor for more recognition for him, hoping to gain some for themselves via his coattails. I don't think I'll g et involved in this historical site matter because I'm so short of time. If I do, I'll get hold of the people you mention. It was 108° on our patio yesterday but much easier to take than 100° at Dallas. No complaints from either of us outside of having too many figs and grapes at one time. Best regards, PTR P.S. I have developed a mutual exchange with a great-grandson of the Mormon loner, Peter Shirts. He is interested in clearing some mystery from the old man and so am I. Evidently Peter was "called" from a fine 173 acre farm in the lush Heber Valley west of Heber City to go to the frontier. He shows up on the Paria and was removed against his will, as I noted in a recent article. I later ran across evidence that Peter was disfellowshipped at Cedar City about 1870 but either failed to record it or lost it in the shuffle. Anyway I can't lay hands on it a~present. This disfellowshipping could account for Peter's going to the San Juan where he was inactive in the church and died in obscurity. Do you know anything about Peter Shirts? There seems to be no logical reason for him to have left his valuable farm in the Heber Valley unless he was "called" and he could have been called because someone higher on the totem pole wanted his farm. Do you think this is unreasonable? Have you ever run across any record of this man that I haven't mentioned? August 6, 1978 Dear George, Thank you for that interesting full page ad. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it. It seems that fundamentalists rise to the top and are skimmed off into splinter groups every time a manifesto or revelation is announced. I wonder whether the Joseph Jensen group was already allied with the fundamentalists or whether it intends to form a new one Comewhere in between. Like the Short Creekers, they seem to regard John Taylor as the last legal LDS Church President •. Anyway, more rebellion. The letter you marked in the Public Forum also was interesting, but I think that these brethren miss the main point. I can't see public pressure in this country being that strong, or the leadership feeling that much pressure. As Leonard Arrington says, the entire LDS thrust is more of an economic one than anything and the multi-racial prospects in Brazil, Central, and So. America seem much more attractive than appeasing a smaller number of blacks in this country. And as I said before, I thought it was kinda nice that one group in this country had a club for whites only, even tho it was not politically expedient to maintain that posture indefinitely. Will be interested in your reaction to the opinion in the clipping I enclose, and I wonder how many Saints could endorse the views expressed. Re the Walquist views about the reasons the Saints went to the L.C., I think he is right in part because of the great number that did not stay when they saw what a hard country it was. Surely the returnees were not motivated by the fact that they had been called. Of course of those who stayed, I think your view would prevail. I didn't mean to give you the impression that Rilla and Florence Jacobsen are feuding. F.J. told me flatly that Rilla and the Hamblins are difficult. In fact she gave me the impression that Rilla is a pain in the neck and she enumerated some of Rilla's demands, such as putting up pictures of Rilla's mother and her children in the Santa Clara home, etc. Other Hamblins have complained to me that every time they donated an old Navajo rug or a choice piece of furniture for the Hamblin home, it wound up in the Brigham ·Young home in St. George. I don't know how true this is, have no particular reason to doubt the charge, but considering the way those people dump their stuff in someone's hands on a verbal agreement, I can easily believe that foul-ups have occurred~ So what? If I donated a pair of rawhide chairs or an old rug to go to a specific place, I'd see that it was spelled out on the donor's form and I'd have a copy. But these people have nothing on paper and many can't even tell me who they gave their items to. One grand daughter is upset because she donated Louisa Bonelli Hamblin's jewelry for the Santa Clara home and has never seen it since. In my opinion the Hamblins are unreasonable and illogical. l asked this gal how they could possibly display personal jewelry and hold authenticity and reminded her that Louisa probably kept her brooch in a drawer or a box in a trunk. She said they could display it in a glass case. Imagine a pioneer home with a glass case to display a modest brooch. I preach authenticity, get rid of the stuff that makes the place look like a Hollywood hunting den such as the mounted buffalo and deer heads, modern saddles and mattresses, that huge Navajo rug that is approximatel y 25 feet square and too large for the room. The Hamblins are difficult and I feel for F.J. I think she'd like to tell them to get lost. Sister Jacobsen respects Rilla's age and handles her with kid gloves. Of course I don't want to be caught in the middle between the pressured archivist and the harassing descendant, but I have advised several Hamblins to cool it and let the church handle the Hamblin home. I am trying to get them together on a plan I have to involve the BLM to include some of Jacob's exploits along Highway 89A. They made a 500-foot turnoff near Jacob's Pools in 1976 to honor the Escalante expedition. They could add another marker there just as easily to explain Jacob's passages. I have volunteered to write the message, as I have done for several DUP ladies. Thus far I can't get the Hamblins to commit for the cost of the bronze tablet if the BLM mounts it and maintains it. They can do Jacob more good by increasing public knowledge of what he did than by squabbling over this and that at Santa Clara. When we come down to the truth, the Hamblin Santa Clara home is closer to being 90 percent Whitmore and 10 percent Hamblin than vice-versa. Jacob was too lazy to build anything that good. Did you know that there are people still around who call him Dirty Finger Jake? For the same reason that an Arab never dips his left hand into the communal food platter or pot. Hamblin descendants have no idea of Jacob's true character, but most take the position that he was discredited or not praised enough. The opposite is true. The man is a manufactured hero, tho I admit he was used rather shamelessly. Yes, I remember Louetta's story. In fact I have it on tape. admire JSB for having the guts to resist Brigham's pressure. We have to No, I did not order a copy of the minutes of the John W. Taylor/ M.F. Cowley case before I sent you the ad I received. I'll be glad to pay you for a copy. I told Ron Watt that if they could round up a list of items that could not be found last spring I would return this fall and speak to the Andrew Jenson Club. Jim Kimball got my list last May but so far no word of their success,,. Some of this stuff is in the old John W. Young folders that Helen Warr got for me but it seems to be off limits now. Any suggestions? One could almost believe that the files have been edited considerably between then and now. Therefore- GOG bless Helen Warr but kic.k me for not copying when, the copying was good. Our house is bu1,oing at the seams with raisins and figs so we'll have to visit Utah, the 1W, or California soon or get us a larger home. Best regards, P. T. Reilly. August 12, 1978 Dear George, Friend Jay Redd sent me the one-page ad by the fundamentali st brethren and also your letter to the editor regarding it. He expressed the ''thought that the Joseph Jensen drivel was beneath his notice" but that your answer to him was excellent and in a few words. After reading your letter I raise my hand in support of Bro. Redd's opinion and I will go farther. I don't think you have ever written better, come to the point more succinctly, or said the right amount as well as in this little letter. If you coined the term, the "Kimball Declaration, " congratulatio ns. If not, this is the first time I have seen it in print so perhaps it will become so-known and will rank with the Manifesto . In any event, these two statements are the most significant to come from any church leader since 18J0o I was planning to get this in today's mail but the postman came early 11 AM - so I missed. However, he brought the Taylor-Cowle y proceedings so I will add my thanks to St. George and will make the monday mailo Just read the item you sent and it elevated my eyebrows a little. Of course I knew that some of the authorities were continuing the abominable practice but I wasn't aware that Geo. Q. Cannon was so supportiveo Another surprise was the bad blood between John W. Taylor and Frank Cannon. Have you ever perused the Journal of A.H. Cannon? Abraham makes some very revealing comment about his brother. He too was a chaser of women, so it might have been professional jealousy all the way aroundo John Wo was a hard case and it is difficult to see why Ray and Sam are so intent on his being forgiveno I note that two Tanners, H. M. and J.S., were involved, but you won't find this newo. I think that if we had the means, we would find many secret sympathizers other than the Short Creekers today. Udall's third wife was a shocker. Did you ever learn her identity? I ran across a good item in HDC last spring. Seems that a girl was "called" to Mexi co to serve as a clerk or teacher when the real reason was that an influential brother had the hots for her and tried to force her into a polygamous relationship . She rebelled and took the matter to the president. If you haven't seen this, I'll look it up for you . Again, thanks for the item, congratulatio ns on the letter and on your access to the Mormon Undergroundo 'I" Best regards, P. T. Reilly HDC 4-26-78 First Presidency Jos. F. Smith Letterbooks, Reel 40, Volo 45, Jan. 6, 1909 to May 5, 1909 page 72 Letter to Bp. John M. Whitaker of Sugar, January 18th, 1909, from Geo. F. Gibbs: He said that Pres. Snow had asked BY why millions of people were cursed with a black skin and when, if ever, the curse would be removed. BY said that when Cain slew Abel he fully understood that the effects would not end with the killing of his brother but would extend to the certain spirits unborn. He also quotes BY who delivered a discourse on Oct. 9th, 1859• "You see some classes of the human family are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable, and low in their habits, and seemingly deprived to a great extent of blessings of intelligence bestowed upon mankind generally. The first man that committed the odious crime of killing one of his brethren will be cursed the longest of any one of the children of Adam. Cain slew his brother. Cain might have been killed, and that would have terminated that line of human beings. This was not to be, and instead -the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin. '"Trace mankind down to the flood, and then another curse is pronounced upon the same races, namely, that they should be servants of servants, and they will be until that curse is removed; and the abolishonists cannot in the least alter that decree. How long is that race to endure the dreadful curse that is upon them? That curse will remain upon them, and they can never hold the priesthood or share in it until all the other descendants of Adam have received the promises and enjoyed the blessings of the priesthood and the keys thereof. Until the last ones of the residue of Adam's children are brought up to the favorable position, the children of Cain cannot receive the first ordinances of the priesthood. They were the first that were cursed, and they will be the last from whom the curse will be removed. When the residue of the family of Adam come up and receive their blessings, then the curse will be removed from the seed of Cain, and they will receive blessings in like proportion." The following was taken from a discourse by President Young delivered March 8th, 18631 "Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race'? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty under the law of God is death on the spot, and this will always be so." CR 1 20 First Presidency, Jos. F. Smith Letterbooks, Reel 34, Vol. 39, page 463 " March 16th, 1904 Bishop David McKay, Huntsville. Dear Brothers- This is in answer to yours of the 14th inst. The negro race has not received the holy priesthood, neither can they, they being debarred on account ofthe curse placed upon Cain, their great progenitor, and which they themselves inherit; and the Prophet Joseph taught the doctrine in his day that the seeu of Cain could not receive the priesthood, nor act in any of its offices until the seed of Abel should come forward and take precedence over Cain's offspring. It is true that Brother Abel was ordained a Seventy and sent to preach the gospel of repentance to his own race, but he was not authorized to confer upon them the holy priesthood, neither did Brother Abel himself receive temple ordinances. He however, it should be borne in mind, was not a full-blooded negro, being simply an octoroon. The story about the bodies of the Prophets Joseph and Hyrum Smith having been brought to this country by the pioneers is a fallacy; they were buried in Nauvoo, and their resting place remains undisturbed. Your Brethren, Jos. F. Smith John R. Winder Anthon H. Lund First Presidency August 23, 1978 Dear George, Yours of the 17th at hand along with two interest ing items for which I thank you. Re the Cavanaugh lament, surely he must be smart enough to realize that the reaction ary forc~s which have so dominate d the Catholic Church are great for developi ng convent ional toe-the- markers but poor at developi ng extraord inary talents. In line with this, the late Pope loaded the Cardina ls with 101 out of 111 of his own selectio ns, so if the new Pope is not a mirror-i mage of Paul it will be a big surprise . But would a rank and file Catholic believe this? I haven't seen so much mumbo-jumbo with that degree of pomp since the JFK funeral. We must give the brethren credit in their solution to the JMT descend ant's problem . How could they have sat on both sides of the fence better? I think it's pretty neat, but was the solution bought by Bro. Kendrick ? I'll bet the size of the "confid ential section" would surprise many people. All of which goes to show that man can rationa lize anything . The little insert re the display of garment s reminds me of quite a fuss being raised in Kanab whereby a number of the fundame ntalist brethren raised a storm because non-Mormons attended a funeral and were permitte d to defile the burial garment s with their Babylon ian eyes. I think a one time full page ad in a major newspap er costs about $1200 at present , so the Jensen group put their money behind their stupidit y. If you remember Clarence Darrow' s question ing of Wm.J. Bryan at the Scopes trial, wouldn' t he have had an equally product ive time with Bro. Jensen? In my opinion , you speak the truth when you say one can prove anything in the Bible. In fact, men of all churches have been doing so for years. As one who has translat ed most of the Septuag int from Greek to English , I say that the King James 1611 translat ion leaves much to be desired . I'll go farther and say that when one faces the problem s of semantic s under a time lapse of 1500 years, common sense should tell us somethin g. Think of the changes in semantic s in our own country in only 200 years. I enclose a couple of items which I copied last spring in HDCo You probably have seen them but the referenc es are authori tative. They are right in line with what you said in your first paragrap h on Aug. 17. In regard to the GST-Wa hlquist differen ce of opinion, I have to stand with your critic and I think you, not I, are dodging the issue. This is largely a matter of semanti cs. If we speak only of the merowho stayed on the Little Colorado , I am with you one hundred percent. But we can't do that. How many remained out of 200 called? Some didn't even bother to go, pulled strings or made excuses why they couldn' t go. Some went, remained a month or so and then returned to Utah. I think Wahlqui st (and I know it is true with me) is looking at the overall number. The attitude held by your father, Bushman, McLaws et al was certainl y differen t from that held by the single-s eason mission aries. After word got around that the LC was a "hard place," it was even more difficu lt to get sincere people. The peculia r breed of Saint who believed in his call was in the minority to those seeking to better themselv es. Look at the ones who wanted to go to Califor nia. Many tried to arrange going without being called. On the other hand, there was a real problem of some people going to Arizona without being called, and the First Presiden cy sent a letter to the stakes about the problem . I say that this class was motivated solely by the prospect for economic advantage or to get free land . More than once I have thought "God bless Helen Warr . " She got material for me that they can ' t even locate now . I heard unofficially that the archivists who were in charge of rearranging the files were switched to other jobs when Leonard A. came to power . His group leaned in a diff.a rent direction but the files never have been redone . It is clear that some items now can ' t even be located . I know this is true because I called out specific items, giving the old box and folder number when Helen was there, but they can ' t produce the item . Sure , I should have copied it when I had the chance but I didn ' t and now it is either "lost in the files" or unavailable . I lean to the thought that the missing items are restricted , and I could accept being told so . The trouble is , I tell them exactly what I want , provide dates and the old location , and I can ' t even get an answer . I don ' t know if the material really is lost or I ' m getting the shuffle . If we do come to SLC we will bring raisins and figs . We appreciate them but we are saturated and Susie keeps reminding me of the calories therein. I will say that if you haven ' t tasted one of Susie ' s raisin pies you have missed one of the joys of life . We always enjoy a trip to SLC but I ' d like some assurance they can find some of the things I need . I dislike to break rank but Jim Kimball evidently isn ' t going to make much effort to find the missing items o Do you have any suggestions or should I forget it? Of course they tried to find these items while I was there last spring but nothing happened . Enclosed are a few stamps for your boy . Tell him not to pass up the common ones because they are common , for they could be hard to come by some day . We won ' t be leaving here until after Labor Day weekend . Best regards , P . T. Reilly 9202 Raintree Drive Sun City, Ariz. 85)51 Ma~ 9, 1978 Jam~s Kimball Historic al Departm ent 50 East North Temple East Wing, Seoond Floor Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 Dear Jim, My thanks for your excellen t efforts in filling my needs during our very pleasan t two weeks in your archive s. I try to be unobtrusiv e and of no extra trouble to my hosts but I fear that my ignoranc e too often oaused you unneoes sary labor. My apoloBie s. The item titled "Thales Hastings Haskell" was multilit hed in 1964 It has 98 pages, index, bibliogr aphy, footnote s, etc. This le the only item or which I know that is devoted solely to Thales. I can add quite a bit to this record but have not had time to compile it as yet. I hQpe to do so in the near future and to notify Bro. Smith,Jm oaae he wants to update his work, Thia may be in your lib~ary or Smith may still have a copy for sale. you do me a favor? I needed an 1 tem from Journal History but ' :--.. the microfil m copy was not availab le on Saturda'.,'• I enoloee a ,,.~ v dollar and would like the account "Jacob Hamblin and the Pioche -=;, Prospec tors in a Tight Place," Thie is under the date or 5 Peb, •\ ~,._· 1 1874, MS/f/14 J, No, 31, Journal History , Nov. 18, 18?) to Aug . 1?, / 1.,,,-'"" I 18?4. There are four columns on one page and two and a half on c)t-J w tJ · '-'anothe r. . by one of hie ,~randson s. Albert E. Smith, 1523 Bryan Ave., SLC. (·can l J-t- ~i"t~'~ While I had hoped to wind up item• which could not be 'E.tJ 0 1.-~' research , there were a number ot I looked in all the su~geste d sources to no avail, I list these on a separate page, along with the sources I checked in vain. It you oan provide firm numbers for the needed iteme, I will return and at the same time will arrange with Ron Watt to talk 1.W) the Andrew Jenson Ol~b regardin g the Mormon P.R. men to the Lamat,it es. Much or what I would diaeuss is new in that it haa not been isolated from other phases to be consider ed as integra l parta ot the records of the so-calle d seconda ry scouts. I ·hope we have ·a deal, but tell the brethren not to expect a J. Golden Kimball . · my round. ,11 :-.;ain my thanks to you and your tine atatr. Sincera ly, P, T, Reilly J Research items needed by P,T. Reilly, 9202 . Raintree Dr.,Sun City,Ar11. 85351 ' Several yeara ago .I examined the John w. Young Collection. In Box 2, 1876-1886 fold~ra. the one .tor 1877 had a long account of JWY departing SLC 8 D~o. 1877, going south via St.George. crossing the Colorado at Pearce terry, and on to the Littli!t Colorado settlements, 16 Jan. 1878, This is the beat description of the southern rouie. The deacription was · probably sent to the First Pre1ddenoy. The item waa in none or J fd. 2 Bx examined, I 1978 In April thtae, . Bx 5 fd. 8 Bx 6 f d. 7 Bx 6 f ds. 11 & 12 Bx 12 fds. 5 & 10 .2. CR 1 20 Fira,t J-'resldenoy Reel 2?,, Vol,,J21 Geo. F, Gibba, sec'y, wrote Elder James s. Brown on Dec. 1St 1897., requesting a writ'ten report of hi s part in the early settlement of Moenkopi/Tu'ba City area. l would like to read I,, rown·~s, report, aleo a treaty he eon- eluded with Tuba between December 1875 and Auq;uat 1877 · re land an~ wa"J;er. l , oould .get no !i~ on these 1t&me, J. Letters to First Presidency, Warren M~ Johnson to Lorenzo Snow, 22 J·une 1899 David Brinkerhoff'. Jamea s. Emett Nephi Foreman . A. Mecham D. Brinkerhoff ,," ,. . E. D. Wool.ley .. . I examined MS f 604 . 4 June 1899 ff II . Reel 2 Bx 2 fd.$, 10, 18, 19 " •. . "-, " " 1'7 April 1899 J Sept, 1899 , " " ",, "· " J Sept. 1899 October 1902 "Joa. P. SJnith ,, t! 9 Nov. 1902 11 Dec, 1902 " " " ,. " " Mar-Apiii'J.' 1903 " " ., March 1906 ." II ,, . " " J Bx) fd. S,~1 Fa.1led to tind · · above 1ettera. 4. Letter, Pres. John Taylor to Erastus Snow, Jan\laey 1882 ·. re coats roa.d a'.t Lea' a F-.rn, a.nd Warren . M. J6~naon. . . ot a s. ~etter, Wilford Woodruf f to Pres. John Tay1Qr, dated 10 J1ay 18?9 account of Lee' a 'erry. ,per W,. Woodruff ,J'our. re In past years there was a letter folder ror Warren M~ Johnson but I oan find no listing f -~ ,this now. Neither could I find a folder tor · Do these exist? James s. Ematt. . September 8, 1978 Dear George, Glad you enjoyed the items I sent. Thought you would find the First PresD.O. McKay exchange interesting . I have another choice one from H.J. Grant re J.D. Lee matter and have seen the original with his grandiose signature. However, I wouldn't want this to find its way into U of U files so it will have to wait until I can show it to you in person. Thank you for discussing my problem with L.A. and D.S. I think the problem is a little different from the image you perceive, and its solution might help Leonard A more than P. T. I enclose a copy of my letter to Jim Kimball and my list. I would like you to read and think about them carefully before recommending a course of action. I don't think it would be wise for me to send these to Don Schmidt for several reasons. I don't want to get Jim on the carpet, even tho he is remiss in not answering my letter or reporting progress on the list since May 9. I know he is working on his doctorate but the problem may be beyond him. Neither do I want to stir up or become involved in HDC politics. At the same time you and I know how g oofups at the working levels are hidden from superiors, and often the department boss is the last to know the actual condition. Of course I don't know how true this is at HDC but there is evidence that the condition exists and that Leonard A should know. I don't mind that it costs me $35 to $40 per day when we stay in SLC if I can obtain results. As it is now, I give them file numbers, box and folder numbers that were g ood when Helen Warr was there but not e ood now. I spent two Saturdays in HDC this spring when the usual staff was off and their places were taken by archivists from the inner sanctum. I discussed these changes in the files with a couple of these men and I learned that the files now are somewhat like scrambled eggs. No names were mentioned but I was told that a few years a g o some hotshot was brought in to reorganize things. He got the files partly changed and g enerally confused before he was replaced, I gather when Leonard A became historian. Since then they have been working at it but the job is far from complete and some things never have been located which were available ten years ago. Whether Leonard A is aware of all this I know not, but I have had experience with people assuring me all was well, hoping I would not find out that it wasn't. If this is the situation in Leonard's case I think he would like to know, but I'm not the guy to tell him. Maybe you are, or can recommend another course of action. A case in point is item one on my list. I can't see any archives of the magnitude of HDC relocating material haphazardly, with no reference to former file numbers, but apparantly this happened. It would be easy for me to send this list to Don Schmidt because it is obvious that Jim is not g oing to provide much help. If Don gets on Jim, Leonard still doesn't know the situation, Jim gets down on me for blowing the whistle on him, and I wind up less welcome in HDC. There must be a smoother way. Incidentally, item one on my list contains a superb description of the southern route. I read it completely and fi gured it was safe to copy later because I had its file location. Little did I know! Item two is a very choice nugget and might be restricted because of obvious reasons. I guess I'm bothered mostly by not being told anything. My connection with HDC is not a one way street. I have steered some choice items there. I used half of one of my research days to identify the W.A. Broach photo collection for Bill Slaughter and Randy Dixon and sent them further identifications when I got home. I sent this on May 9, the same day I wrote Jim and gave him my listo I didn't necessarily expect a thank you from Bill but I did expect a reply in time from Jim. I have a hunch that if Leonard A knew his people were running the store in this manner he would not be happy. I had a nice letter from Helen Warr. I refused her kind offer, telling her that she should not become involved and possibly reopen old wounds with Earl Olson. She has been a Godsend in past years but I think she is happy to be out and on her own. A last word to your last word. When the Old Man shook up the bean bag and spilled the contents among the four captains, it is clear that William C. Allen came up with more choice seed than did Smith, Lake, or Ballanger. I agree with you 100 percent regarding those in Allen's Camp. But we have to look at the entire mission and those in the other three companies as well. They did not have proportionally nearly as many who believed in the call as did Bro. Allen. If this is not so, why didn't they survive like Joe City? Did Lot Smith believe in the call or did he see opportunity f or personal advantage at the expense of his brethren? How many of the young men remained more than two or three months, or even a year? After considering the HDC problem and you still think I should contact Don Schmidt, I will do so. Since so much time has elapsed since Jim Kimball received my list, I see no reason to suddenly get antsy in September, even tho I am neutralized for this fall. Now I'm only asking for y our advice after you learn more about the problem, and I'm not asking you to carry the ball. I wonder what Jim would say if either Leonard or Don asked him if he owed PT anything? Sincerely, P . T. Reilly You might inform anyone interested in the subject that PT will have an article in the December 1978 issue of The Journal of Arizona This issue is devoted to the Arizona Strip. I write about History . the roads over Buckskin Mt., f rom John D. Lee and the Arizona Road to present, also the trails used by Jacob Hamblin. The map s h owing the various roads should remove the confusion s urrounding this subjecto The Quarterly is published by the Arizona Historical Society. PS. October 17 , 1978 Dear George , Your letter of September 13 was waiting when we returned f rom a trip to the NW . It must have arrived shortly after we departed on the 14th . We had a good trip but found everything much higher than a year a g o , mainly meals and lodging . Had fresh salmon , dug clams in Oregon , and had a good family reunion with my last two aunts in Washington . We drove 1400 miles from Orcas Island to Escalante in three days and were dog-tired when we got there . Then I spent the next two days digging 600 plus feet of potatoes and trapping three gophers that were tunnelling in the bank of the ditch o It seemed wrong to buzz through SLC without getting off the freeway . On October 6 a man named OCorris A. Shirts of Cedar City came to his parents ' home in Escalante and the next morning we left at 5:45 AM to search the Faria for the site of his great,grandf ather ' s stone fort (Peter Shirts) . Jacob started his Indian farm here in 1869 . John D. Lee and others visited the place in Sept . 1870 and panned the location because of flood danger . This turned out to be true and the town of Pahreah was relocated about 5 miles upstream in 1877 . The original site has never been located until now , but we found it , even tho our evidence is not the firmest . I may send HDC and UHS a writeup of our investigation . After reflecting on the problem of the unlocated material in HDC , I think I will give Jim Kimball another chance ~efore going to Dons . I ' ll give him an easy out by pretending that he forgot about the rest of the items after they sent me the xerox of the Journal History I requested . I hope. this reminder will do the job and eliminate any ill feelimgs which going over Jim ' s head would generate o I think Jim means well , he simply is not too efficient while he is working on his doctorate , building a home, etc. Since I saw few papers and no reports of the fall Conference, I have no idea who was called to the Twelve . Please fill me in . I enjoyed the two clippings y ou sent . They hit me from opposite directions . Our fondest memories of the BYU campus are headed by the clean-cut, wellgroomed , and friendly character of the students in sharp contrast to other schools . President Kimball might not have been diplomatic in his comments but I say " bravo" to his objectives . The Idaho case bothers me quite a bit . I think it would be the worst mistake the LDS could make to divide any political community by religious lines. This practice hurt the Saints considerably in the past, just as it has the Catholics , and the non- Mormon, non-Catholic segments are apprehensive about such undisguised power plays in politics . Note the Mesa case which I enclose o I am glad that other sects don ' t put on the razzle- dazzle ceremonies that the Catholics do when they pick new leaders . Think of the time the three networks devoted to the three popes in two months . We saw that about 98 percent of the corn was taken by the early frost in mid- September throughout southern Idaho and Utah . Glad it did not get the tomatoes because they are my favorite also . We brought home two flats from Escalante . October 18 , 1978 Dear George , Old age must be catching up to me . The main item of business was completely forgotten in my letter of the 17th , so this one follows on its heels ~o save time . As you know , I believe in placing source material where it belongs regardless of other pressures and allegiances . I have aterrific photo collection that belongs in Idaho o It was assembled by one of their early asphalt paving engineers when they were still learning how to build the forerunners of today's highways . Do you know anyone in the University of Idaho , preferably Special Collections or connected to the engineering department who would be interested in this acquisition? It is free . The state highway department was given a chance and expressed no interest , I think because of politics. The man who took the photos worked for the state of Idaho until he was lured away by Shell Oil Co . He died a couple of years ago and his widow recently found the box of prints and negs . Another item is, have you seen the article in New West for May 8 , 1978 , re the Mormon financial empire in California? NET is mentioned prominently , among others . I just received a xerox and will send you a copy if you haven ' t seen it . Sounds pretty accurate to me . Did I tell you that Morris Shirts knows Obert Tanner? Also Leonard Arrington . Yet when he went to HDC to do some research they gave him the third degree and didn ' t treat him like the good Saint he is . I would like for you and Morris to meet sometime if we are ever all in the same place at the same time . He is head of the education dep ' t at So . Utah State College at Cedar City . He got his B. A. and N~ . at BYU , his Ph . D. at University of Indiana . He is the first person born in Escalante to obtain a doctorate. His great-grandfather , Peter Shirts was quite an individual in a society that leaned on individuals. Had I known as much about him previously as I do now , I would have written something about him . Still may . Best regards , P . T. Reilly November 1, 1978 Dear George, My thanks for your prompt action regarding the photographic collection for the U of Idaho. Both Fern Waller (the widow) and I are glad that the negatives will have a good home. My late friend, Arthur C. Waller had quite a career that encompassed sailing on a square-rigger, mining on the San Juan, Lee's Ferry, and Paria, drafting and engineering in Denver, cowboy in Arizona and Utah, and alunite mining in Utah. He graduated from Morris Academy in Morristown, N.J. He was laboratory technician and inspector for Utah Road Commission, worked in Idaho 1926-19)6 and set up the ~irst state materials testing laboratory. He was technical asphalt engineer for Shell Oil 1936-1951, then founded his own consulting business and worked in the NW, Alaska, So.America, Canada, Iraq. Arthur had extensive sets of photos which I am helping his widow to place in appropriate archives. The U of Idaho will get 400-500 negatives and prints of Idaho roads. I hope to eventually place his other negatives in archives best qualified for the area. Thanks to you, the Idaho set went to the right place. Fern comes from an old pioneer family SE of Richfield. If Stan Layton isn't careful he will get in the same doghouse that Juanita occupies. I thought both articles were terrific and wrote him a letter telling him so. . The article about the black soldiers also was good •.. No, I do not think the evaluations are too severe. I could build a much stronger case. However, it is wrong to judge Mormon policy by itself. This is a case of chickens coming home to roost because no other group has advanced the hypocrasy about it being cheaper to feed them than to fight them. The policy of all white men was to cheat the Indian out of land and water even if he had to exterminate them. In fact, extermination was favored so there would be no future claims. I would judge that Stan has been readi~g Wm. R. Palmer of Cedar City who practically kept the UHQ in business in the early 1930s. Palmer was a good LDS, yet he documented BY 1 s hypocritical policy toward the Indians fifty years ago. Read UHQ V.6 N.J (July 1933), p.89. Why was the Shivwits Tribe exterminated? Because the Srethren discovered the Grand Gulch Mine (silver-lead) on their land and the Indians fought with inferior weapons to keep the Whites out. Erastus Snow owned a major interest in this mine and anyone who doesn't believe this can examine his probate at St.George. Did you ever hear how the Santa Clara Paiutes were rounded up and herded to a minute reservation? Or how the Long ValleyKanab band was relocated at Moccasin? These are gory stories of injustice; the Mormons were no better and no worse towards the Indian ~than the nonMormons. The average Mormon justifies the thefts of land and water by sayi~& the Indians were not using the land /:as those of European descent woul_g/. Both clippings you enclosed were interesting. Singer appears to be a nut who likes publicity. They can get him if they want to. Remember how they nailed Capone and the other mobsters for income tax evasion? They either enforce the laws equally or they breed disrespect for all law. The local authorities have to make this clear to keep the do-gooders from spilling too many tears. Dr. Shipps makes a lot of sense and I'd like to read her full text in The Christian Century. However, I am not familiar with this publication. Essentially her arguement enfolds the points in an article I sent you/ last June. Regardless of the reason, one has to doff his hat to Pres. Kimball for facing up to a thorny problem and solving it. I think we have to face the truth - this Dodger team could not consistently beat this NY team if they played for ten years. I saw a lot of poor baseball on the part of both teams, causing me to wonder just how many true major leaguers are in the major leagues. There is such a thing as motivation, and some teams have it at one time, do not have it at another. Great teams have it consistently . ASU had it against USC but not against the two Washington schools. USC didn't have it against ASU, but Atlanta certainly had it against the Rams Monday nighto I see this take place in game after game, in all sports. I gave Jim Kimball a friendly reminder on Oct. 19. Provided a face-saving out, etc. but no answer to date. I'll give him a couple more weeks, then go upstairs. I don't think Leonard Arrington or Don Schmidt want to run things as Jim appears to think. He owes me an answer, even if it is negative. If they do come up with the answers, I think you will be very interested in at least oneo Enclosed is a xerox of the New West article. Hope you find it interesting. Yes, the old Tribune was anti, but doesn't the LDS Church own it now? I guess the Catholics proved that there is hope even for them when they elected a non-Italian cardinal to be Pope. This had to be a blow for-the free world and a blow ~o Russia. Possibly the editor of the Tribune recognized the worldwide effect of this event was of more interest to more people than the general conference. Thank you for your offer to take Morris Shirts around. He and I may show up together sometime and I know you'd enjoy meeting him. We are pretty sure that Peter died outside the church. If you have access to Paria quad, Peter's stone fort was located in T42S, R1W, NW¼ of SW¼ S4. We are about 90 percent sure of this but want to check the 1916 survey notes against the 1877 notes. We had only the latter on Oct. 7 when we investigated the site and did not know the township had been resurveyed in 1916. Morris borrowed a transit from the school and I ran it. We may wind this up next year. Old Peter was quite a man - a true individual. If you don't have the Paria quad, the Shirts fort was 5½ miles north of highway 89 and Faria Creek. I located it accurately in my Paria article UHQ V.45 N.2 p.200. Of course there is much I didn't tell in that brief space. May save this for an article on Peter. All for now. Thanks again for the help in Idaho. Best regards, .er P. T. Reilly November 20, 1978 Dear George, Did you ever hear of anything to match the events in Guyana this weekend? Those people actually were crazy and it's too bad they didn't have the entire colony there when they committed suicide. So, even tho your letter to the editor re Singer was right on the nose, he is not nearly as bad as those other nuts. Fanaticism does something to people when they find themselves in a corner. I have often wondered how different things could have been for BY and the Saints in 1857 had it not been for the logic and friendship of Thomas L. Kane. Now I only hope that some fanatic among the faithful does not grab a hatchet and go for Stan Layton. Thank you for your kind words re the Idaho pictures. I am sure that the collection is in the archives at Moscow by now. Fern Waller has diabetes and holes in her retinas, so writing is difficult for her. I know I'll hear before Christmas. Thank you also for correcting me on my mistaken belief that the S.L.Tribune was owned by your church. I think I saw this stated in one of the brochures pumping the book which UHS published. I was quite surprised, but I either misread it or they made the error. I knew that both the Tribune and the Herald were anti-LDS in the old days. Yes, we were reasonably pleased with the elections, mainly that Clark of Iowa and the Humphrey boys got beat in Minn . Our boy Mecham got beat in Arizona but he did well. He ran the campaign similar to Younger in Calif. and this was a mistake. I read much crossing of party loyalty lines, and think the real issue is the free ride vs. economy and good money. A plus for us appears to be that Carter is a good reader of the national pulse and will turn more conservative . Younger ran a stupid campaign against Flapjack Brown. Had a letter from Chas re a hole he seems to have dug for himself. After analyzing the problem I told him I was sure he should have said Peter Shirts but somehow wrote Seth B. Tanner. Seth was never on that part of the San Juan. I think Chas used Miller's footnote 40 on p. JJ but switched names on himself. Miller's work isn't all perfect. His footnote lJ on p. JO contains two glaring errors, and there are others. The last UHS Newsletter said that a David Miller had died. Was this the man who wrote Hole in the Rock? I met him once, thought he was younger than I. I have noticed that this year there were quite a few obituaries about Mormons who also were Masons, and some were Shriners. Maybe there are more rebels than you think. No word from Jim Kimball yet, which causes me to wonder whether the brethren are giving me the chance to ride myself out of the play or whether he is a nephew of Spencer Kand draws too much water for Don Schmidt. Have you Hope the high priests of ever heard that he is related to the president? do more than your certainly You broadened. horizons your ward had their to the brethren. labors your confine don't you and horizons share to broaden there is a where know I mention. you Yes, I have looked at the old press good copy of the B of Min the Deseret Alphabet. Have a good Thanksgiving , preferably a family affair. enclosed. Best r e g a r ~ PTR Stamps and clips December 6, 1978 Dear Georg e, ing were much enjoy ed, Your inter estin g lette r of Nov.27 and the clipp Claus . Yes, this /Sant espec ially the "Chuc kle" about adult s/chi ldren my aexper that the Singe r situa tion is a real zinge r. It has been than notaience write could I funda ment alist issue split s famil ies more often the feeli ngs of too many hurt a hot one on the Johns on case but it would ble as peop le. I can quote phase s of this split that are as unbe lieva the Guyana thing . 't in charg e of that operIt's a good thing for the do-go oders that I wasnhave been Jones - for would ation . The only one I'd have broug ht back and scatt ered the him ted crema posit ive iden tifica tion. Then I'd have appar antly being (they ry count ashes in an obscu re outho use in the Amish a trenc h for the ozed bulld have I'd . the only peopl e left using outho uses) octan e gasol ine. Then follo wers , bulld ozed them into it, and used some low who survi ved to go those ng leavi I'd have cover ed it over and walke d away, all members of the U.S. Cons ul's l recal their own way. Once I got home I'd on the spot with no possi offi~ e there and when they arriv ed I'd fire themJones had the U.S. Consu l bilit y of a trans fer to any gov't job. I thinkwith Wate rgate but we went in his pock et. Our scand als shoul d have ended gov't files a lien on to Kore agate , GSA, and now this. I do hope the of this opera tion won't cost huge the so s asset again st all Peop le's Churc h would be fall to the taxpa yers. Of cours e the funer al indus try lobby again st me. so-ca lled Lee Conf essio ns. I don't think you shoul d put too much trust in the edite d and rewro te it to Lee wrote some thing to pay his lawye rs but they could be far remov ed from give the publi c what it wante d to hear, and it in 1877, other editi ons what Lee wrote . The first Confe ssion s came out and 1891.and No one now with diffe rent numb ers of pages appea red in 1882can bet that Lee said nothi ng knows what passa ges to attrib ute to Lee but we the times of 1856-57, we bad about the churc h. I think if we under stand . Smith , and Heber C. can under stand the mass acre. I would blame BY, Geo.A They put out the fiery · Kimb all more than Lee, Dame, Haig ht, or Higbe e. to accep t liter ally what d speec hes to a socie ty that had been cond itione belie ver or he wasn 't. God said throu gh his proph ets. A perso n was eithe r aing lariti es If he belie ved, he didn 't quest ion. I see some strikI havesimi befor e that said think betwe en BY's socie ty and that under Jones . I gs DS non-L than more any I don't think the LDS shoul d hold guilt feelin g to belon s event shoul d for Miss ouri, Ohio, Illin ois, or even Utah. Those those times . claim on March 7, 1896, Did I ever tell you that J.B. Tanne r locat ed a minin g 48-50 miles upabout in the Willi ams Distr ict? This was on the San Juan ing. Then on June 8 and stream from its mouth , or just below Clay hill Cross ain locat ed four lode 10, 1896, J.B. Tann er, W.R. Robb ins, and Henry Desp San Juan. The minin g claim s in Piute Canyo n, about 5 miles south of the Pang uitch tell us that locat ion books in Mont icello , Flag staff , Kanab , and ectin g. Would you prosp quite a few Mormons disre garde d couns el and went Tanne r book which the in p.337 say this was Josep h Baldw in ranne r or .. J.B.,. I don't have? where I was The B of Min Dese ret Alpha bet is owned by Mrs. J.S. Johns on and advis ed when you and I met. I never inqui red wheth er it was for sale re, or make them to hang on to it as a rare book. Do you want me to inqui 1 an offer? I have nothing in the Deseret Alphabet except UHQ, Vol. XII. Thales Haskell wrote his journal in this medium. Wm. R. Palmer was an expert in D.A. Wish I could have been with you on the Logan experience. Will be eager to hear about it. Would also like to meet Sterling McMurrin some time. Yes, I saw the notices re T. Edgar Lyon and Gustive Larson. I have read their work and admired both. Would like to have met them, too. Hey, winter is just about here. Snow level down to JOOO feet and quite sharp outside. But I'm satisfied when I read your temps.