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Show 35 FORTY YEARS AMONG THE INDIANS. boarded with Father Isaac Morley. During the winter I made the acquaintance of Dimick B. Huntington. He told me about the ' Book of Mormon, its relationship to the Indians, etc. It seemed natural to me to believe it. I cannot remember ever questioning in my mind the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, or that Joseph Smith was a prophet. The question was : Are the Mormons sincere, and can I be one? I heard a great many hard remarks about the Missourians, and being one myself, I felt to resent the wholesale accusations made against them. About that time a great many " dead beats" and " winter Mormons" joined the Church, emigrants who stopped over simply for convenience. Quite a number came to Manti, led by one Loomas. They all joined the Church. They tried to induce me to be baptized when they were. I gave them a good cursing for being miser-able hypocrites, at which they only laughed, saying they would have the advantage of me among the girls, at least. Sometime near spring this gang arranged to make a general raid upon the settlements, and steal all the horses upon the range from Draperville going south through Utah valley. In those days numerous herds of horses ran loose, as the range was good. The gang of outlaws had confederates in Salt Lake City where some of them robbed a jeweler's store. They sent for me one night and laid their plans before me. They proposed that I would be their guide and meet them at the head of Spanish Fork Canyon, conduct them through to New Mexico and have one- fourth of all the horses. I declined the offer, telling them it was a good speculation, assign-ing as my reason for not going that I had not sufficiently recovered from my wounds to risk the trip. This they seemed to believe, as I was yet somewhat lame. They |
