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Show CHAPTER XI. UTAH ARGENTIFERA. THE Gentiles were all talking of silver mines; the Mormons of " persecution of the Saints" and " God's wrath at the wicked Gentile government." Chief- Justice McKean had ruled all the Mormon offi-cials out of the District Court, and made the United States Marshal the ministerial officer ; the latter had selected non- Mormon grand juries who were ferreting out all the crimes committed by the Saints in the old " blood- atonement era." Lawsuits as to mining titles doubled and redoubled. The District Court at Salt Lake City, which formerly finished the term in two weeks, now sat ten months in the year; one- half its time settling titles to mines, the other half trying Mormon criminals. Five indictments were pending against Brigham Young; a hundred Latter- day Saints were under arrest, or hiding in the mountains. Money by tens of thousands was pouring in to pur-chase silver lodes ; every body swore by the Emma Mine which had given the Territory such a reputation. Every miner expected a for-tune; many Gentiles looked forward to the early overthrow of Brig-ham. There was no little bird to whisper " Schenck Stewart Trainor Park Baron Grant," or hint that before twelve months the Supreme Court would upset the Utah Judiciary. There were visions of \ vealth beyond the dreams of avarice, of monstrous lodes of silver ore, of a Territory redeemed ; the Gentile speculator rode on the crest of a swelling wave, and smiling hope beckoned him on to greater ventures. Though Judge McKean was then the central figure, the other Fed-eral officials came in for an equal share of Mormon abuse. No matter what they had done or left undone, they were guilty on the main point: they recognized no sovereignty in Brigham Young; they loved republicanism and hated theocracy. Governor Geo. L. Woods es-pecially came in for unstinted abuse. His conduct in suppressing the Mormon militia was painted in frightful colors. History and Script-ure were ransacked for precedents. The fruitful annals of Israel furnished the Mormon preachers with abundant similes: He was a Roman governor, oppressing the Holy Land ; an Amalekite, hindering |