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Llewlyn Harris Faithful Missionary to the Indians One day out on the range near Fort Harmony, a hot-headed Welshman caught an Indian riding the Welshman's horse. He demanded the animal. The indian refused to give it up. The Celt reached for the Indian to pull him off the horse and got a moccasined toe full in the face. He pulled the fellow off the horse and struck him a blow with his fist that sent the Indian ,teeling. Scrambling to his feet, the red man ran off to tell Chief Kanarra that the Mormons had broken the agreement and beaten him up. (To keep peace, Indians and whites had both agreed to take troubles either to the Bishop or the Chief.) Tpe Chief and his band came to great rage to Fort Harmony to demand satisfaction. The Bishop caHed the young Mormon before him to hear his story. Although recognizing that there had been provocation for the violent act, the Bishop knew that treaties with the Indians must be kept. He, therefore, sentenced the white man to be tied to the liberty pole and to receive thirty lashes on the bare back in the prensence of the Indians.......,.The punishment having been duly carrle(I out, the Indians left, satisfied. The young man so punished was Llewyln Harris, who had come to utah with Johnston's Army in 1858. When he had marched through the empty streets of Salt Lake City with his regiment, he had felt it to be an occasion of great solemnity rather than a march of triumph. He got out of the army as soon a~ he could; and, after some study of Mormonism, joined the church. He met several of his countrymen at Fort Harmony and remained in the vicinity for many years. Sometime after the horse incident, Erastus Snow called Harris to join the Indian Mission. At the same time, he was also asked to investigate a report received by Brigham Young of a tribe of Welsh- speaking Pueblo Indians in Arizona. It was thought that they might be descendents of a boatload of men and women who, according to Welsh history, had sailed .out, sometime in the sixteenth century, to find new homes and were never heard of again. Or, possibly, that the Indians might have been taught by the Welshmen. Harris was a man of intelligence with a ra~her scientific mind. He began by learning, thoroughfy, the Moquich language so that he could examine not only the word and sentence construction but also the legends and traditions of the tribe as well. After several years of palnstaking .-study, he turned in a report of his findings said to be very scholarly. He could find nothing in the traditions of the Indians that gave any evidence of the theory of Welsh influence upon their language, and the few tabulated words of similar pronunciation that he did find, he concluded to be merely accidental. He spoke fluently the dialects of 20 or more tribes among whom he labored; and, in addition, spoke English, Spanish, And Welsh. Of the 'numerous Indian tongues which he spoke, he could converse with the clarity of a scientist. With his painstaking study of the dialects, he became probably the greatest authority of his time on the philology of Indian languages. The prehistoric Indian writings in the remote canyons and mountains of the Colorado River Basin excited his interest, and he spent much time making careful artistic copies of them. Many were the stories he told of where and how he found them and what he thought they meant. Llewyln Harris was a man of medium height, stocky and barrel-chested. He had a strong face, heavy jaws, and perfect teeth ; and his abundant iron gray hair hung in a square crop below the line of his collar. From long exposure, his skin was , J \! . ... • , .' , ' 'I Ji' .:i , "' ~. : . ,' . ~ ~ leathery and tanned to a mahogany red. He wore a full beard, and his blue-gray eyes were always lighted with a little twinkle of good humor. His interesting conversation was punctuated trequently with the words, "Yis, yis", half hissed through closed teeth. He always wore two pairs of overalls, one over the other, a heavy flannel ,s hirt, a vest with usually a button or two missing, and a blue denim waistband jumper. Sometimes, he wore a red handkerchief around his neck. His luggage consisted on one wool blanket, a heavy army overcoat, and his Bible and Book of Mormon, which were tied in a big roll behind him on the saddle. The blanket, the overcoat, and his saddle blankets comprised the only bed he would sjeep in during his long missionary expeditions. There were times in his lonely missionary travels when his life was in danger, and he had some narrow escapes. Once, he went to a hostile camp and had to flee for his life. "Mad Indians, Pompey," he said to his horse; and away they sped with the Indians in hot pursuit. Reaching a grove of thick cedars, he had only time to lead the horse up among the limbs of a wide-spreading tree when the indians sped on past him. Then, he came out and rode off in another direction. The Indians, finding that they had lost the trail, returned to pick it up; but Ll~yln had gained enough lead to save him. Darkness came, and the Indians gave up the chase. Another time, he lost his way in a blinding snow storm, and night came on. As he rode along in the darkness not knowing where he was going,. he heard a dog barking. Following the sound, he came to a large pueblo. The Indians were not cordial, but they gavew him an empty room to sleep in. Not knowing whether he was among friends or foes, he slept with - State of Utah Division of Parks & Recreation " .. ...... . . ..... ....... ......... ......... • •• 4- . . . ... ~ • ". ••• . oJ · his pistol rolled up in his jumper under his head. In the night, he was awakened by a stealthy hand trying to get hold of the gun. He caught hold of that hand and held on grimly while he struck a match. It was his host. The Indian explained that his family had all had smallpox and that many Indians were sick and many had died. They were afraid that he would be angry and shoot them when he found out. These Indians had heard of Mormon missionairies talking to their God over the Sick; and, when they learned that he was a missionary, they asked him to talk to his God for them . They brought the sick into the room, and he administered to them. Then, others began bringing their sick; and he kept on administering until he had blessed more than 400. By this time, it was far into the next day; and he was worn out. He went outside in the fresh air; for he was sick himsef. The Lord heard his earnest prayers in behalf of those sick Indians and answered him. Every person that he blessed got well, and there was no further spread of the disease. When he was first called as a missionary -to the Indians, Llewyln went with other missionaries; but, one by one, they were released. He, however, continued to spend his winters, year after year. accompanied, finally, only by his mousecolored horse, Pompey, faithfully discharging his duties. No one ever thought to give him a release from his mission ; and he would not ask for one. For over 30 years, therefore, Harris made his annual rounds among the "Lamanites in . his field of labor" . He died at Taylor, Arizona. For many years his grave was unmarked and may still be so ~