The Journals ofGEORGE KIRKHAM

Beginning with page 131865

"My Life to Dixie"

First 12 pages missing...

…City, to his family. A man, who kept the next station by the name of Porter Rockwell,came with a team and took the bodies to Salt Lake City. The Indians went their way andthey never were brought to justice. During the summer of 1863, while I was living withBrother Ball, my mother gave birth to her last child, and only daughter, which, died soonafter it was born. (She was called Mary Ann Eliza Kirkham.) I was about 12 years old. Ididn't realize much, but I remember running home to see my mother and little sister,which was a little corpse. I never forgot her looks and where she lay under the window ina little room, one room house, which stood many years after, and I have often viewed thespot. From that time until the 20th of June 1866, when we moved back to Sugar HouseWard, I spent time during the summer herding and doing something to help Father andMother. I used to be very lucky in fishing, and many a time we would have wanted forsomething to eat with our bread if it had not been for my fishing. During the summer of1865, I went and drove a team for brother John Naile, to Dixie, some 300 miles. Weencountered some bad weather, that is rain. When we got to a place called Beaver, some200 miles on our way, we stopped there a week or more. Brother Naile had a place there,and was going to leave one of his wives there. He also had a large amount of stock, cattleand horses, in a place called Wild Cat Canyon, 10 miles away. Soon after, we went onour way. The weather was very hot, as it was in the month of July, I believe. We arrivedin Toquerville in time to celebrate either the Fourth, or 24th of July. I well rememberwhile we were in meeting, there came on such a heavy storm. The rain came through theroof of the meeting house, and everybody was trying to find a dry place. I believe I wasthere about a month. And during that time I worked hoeing, plowing between grapevines,and watering them, and anything else I was told to do. I was very glad to start home as Iwas but young, and had not been so far from home before. We, Brother Naile and myself,started with a pair of horses and buggy. The weather was very hot and dry. He would laydown in the buggy and sleep, leaving me to drive the team. I remember losing the whip, Ithink it was the first day out, while he was asleep. When he awoke up, he took hold of thelines and the horses stopped. He said, "Where is the whip?" I said, "I did not know."While he was asleep, I had lost it out of the buggy, and had let the lines go very loose. Igot a chastising for that I never forgot. I learned to always keep a tight line. When we gotback to Beaver, on our way home, we stopped there a short time, and then left for home.It was in the afternoon when we left. I rode in front of the buggy. We traveled most allnight. I was frightened a number of times. It was timber country, and every now and thena tree was trimmed and looked like a man or Indian hanging there, ready to shoot me.The Indians were very hostile in those days. Every now and then we would hear ofsomeone being killed. But, we arrived home safe. I was glad to see my father and mother

and brothers and to be home again. Well as I said, about the 26th of June 1866, in thesummer, following the summer I went to Dixie, we moved to Sugar House Ward. Therewe made friends and found old friends still living there, Brother Stoker and others, whomwe became acquainted with, when we first came into the valley. We lived there overthree years, and during that, I saw many changes. My brother James and myself helpedFather saw wood for the paper mill, the first winter we were there. During the time welived in the ward, I worked out at a great many places. I lived at Brother Joseph Young's,a brother of Brigham Young. He thought a good deal of me, and I of him, being he was agood man. But I did not like his wife, she was not good to me while I lived with them.

The summer of 1869 (June 21st) I had my endowments.

I became acquainted at the theatre, where I spent a good many of my evenings. After Ileft Brother Young's, I lived at a number of different hotels, The Salt Lake House, theRevier House, the Star Restaurant and others. And during all this time I tended thetheatre. But, I will here state, while living at the Star Restaurant, I got a notion I would goback to the States (St. Louis), to learn the Science of Fine Art Painting, as I was getting agood hand drawing. I went to see Brother George Ollingour who had lent me copies todraw from, and said he would give me a letter of introduction and recommendation to afriend in St. Louis. Well, I went and saw a young man by the name of Joseph Dawson,who was going with me. We agreed to go with a freight train, which was going to startoff on the following Monday. But, before I did anything further, I went out to the SugarHouse Ward, as I was living in the city, to see my mother. This was in the summer of1868, while my father and brother were out in Echo Canyon working on the railway. Shewas staying with Sister Pyper, a neighbor. When I went, it was early. I found them in bed.When I told her my story, Mother seemed rather favorable at first, but soon changed hermind. I told her all about it and said I would take care of myself and so on. But she wouldnot give her consent. I told her I would see some of the authorities, and ask their counselon the subject. But she made me promise before I left, I would not go until she saw meagain. She felt very bad. I returned to my work, and one day shortly after, I met BrotherDavid K. Wells, who was President Young's Second Counselor, and he said he would notsay, go or stay. He said if you go, be faithful to your religion. I made up my mind. Iwould not go. I well remember my brother Hyrum coming to see me at my job, and assoon as he saw me, burst into tears and said, you aren't going to leave us George are you?I said no.

Times were very hard. I used to save all the scraps of meat and greens and my brothersJoseph and Hyrum used to come and fetch them. I remember at another time when I wasout of work. I could not get work for board. I tended the theatre, and used to get twotickets each night I performed. I would sit in front of the theatre house to sell them, 2/3their value, for the purpose of getting something to eat and to wear, saving not to gohome to eat up what they had. I used to sleep in the theatre, as I was well acquaintedthere. And many a time I have laid down and gone to sleep without my supper, because Ididn't have any. But I used to be satisfied. I remember never complaining.

I left Sugar House Ward 28th of July.

During the summer of 1869, a short time before I went on the railway to work, I went andgot my endowment. And soon after I started out, with my father and brother James andquite a number of brethren of the ward, to work in Echo Canyon, on the railroad, whichhad never been in Utah. We worked until late in the fall when the snow was falling.

We used to have our meeting every Sunday morning at ten o'clock, and during theafternoon I used to spend my time drawing sketches of our work. Soon we had some veryheavy storms. I remember one morning, our tents being blown down upon us. It came onbefore we went to breakfast. Everything was drenched, but nobody hurt. The thunder andlightning were fearful. The hail fell in torrents. But take it all in all, we had a good time.We went one or two nights to the Emigrant Camps, which camped some 4 or 5 milesaway. We had a lot of singing. In time, well to make a long story short, we finished ourwork and returned home, glad to see Mother and brother Joseph and Hyrum, who hadfared pretty hard while we had been gone. The grasshoppers had been and had devouredeverything. We paid as high as $15 for one hundred lbs. of flour, and we paid as much as$10 for all we had during the winter. In the spring of 1868, I was at home in Sugar HouseWard. With part of the money we worked for out on the railroad, we finished paying forour place we had purchased from Uncle John Young. We were now improving it, andcleaning away the rock off it. We wheeled away as high as 36 barrows full. This was inMay, and we were troubled with grasshoppers. In the same month the prisoners at thepenitentiary caught 129 bushels of grasshoppers, so it was said all about the ward. Well,we passed the winter.

On the 10th of Sept 1869 we moved to Lehi.

We lived in a house belonging to Brother Jones. We spent the winter playing for parties,and we gave a concert, we enjoyed ourselves as a family. The people were glad to see us,and to have us back. I became acquainted with a young woman from Provo, one of ourold acquaintances who kept company for sometime. I used to go to see her every now andthen. On the 5th of March 1870, I was called to be a Deacon, in which office I servedfaithfully, to the best of my knowledge. I do not remember what was my labor altogether,but I labored in Lehi until 13th of December. We went in, brother and myself, to SaltLake. My intentions were to get means to get married to the same young woman. Butwhile we kept company, she tried to get me to promise I would not go into polygamy, butI did not promise no such thing. Our business was to play for parties. We stayed in theFourth Ward with Sister Davey. We had a splendid time. While we were there, I receiveda visit from my young lady. She came to where I was staying to see me. She did not feelvery well toward me. She said she did not like a letter I had sent to her. She said it was acool religious letter, and so on. I believed she did not like it because I would not promiseher I would not take another after I married her. After a short visit in the city we parted. Igot her to promise she would write first when she got home. And in a few days, she sentme a letter, and she sent me the ring I had given her, and desired our engagement shouldbe broken. I never saw her after to speak to her. I could not help feeling bad, but myparents were glad the match was broken up, and I was afterwards. We spent three or four

weeks in the city. While we were there, we played for some very nice parties, one was inthe 14th Ward, where there were some of the Twelve.

When we returned home, we spent the winter playing for parties in Lehi, American Fork,Pleasant Grove, Alpine and other places. We were not living in a house of our own.During the spring of 1871, I spent my time freighting and other work. In the fall, on the13th of October, my brother and two other brethren, one by the name of John Broadbent,and another by the name of Gledhill, all went with Brother Rowley as a Concert Troupe.We did not have very good success. When we got as far north as North Ogden, two of ourcompany got dissatisfied and left, so it left us four brothers and Brother Rowley. Whilewe were there, we received our Patriarchal Blessing.

My First Patriarchal BlessingNorth Ogden, Weber County, UtahOctober 23, 1871

A blessing given by Charles W. Hyde, Patriarch, on the head of George Kirkham, son ofGeorge William and Mary Astington Kirkham, born March 11th, 1852, in London,England.

George, I place my hands upon thy head, and seal upon you a Patriarchal Blessing. Forthou will soon be called to preach the gospel, to nation, kindred, tongues and people, andno power shall stay thy hand. Thou will be cast into prison, and after many days shall bereleased by the voice of an angel saying, "George, arise and follow me. Then shall thechains upon your feet be loosed and he shall lead you to the outer gates. And you shall goto the widow woman's house and baptize her and all her household, and thou will do agreat and mighty work, and converse with angels from time to time. Thou will lead mento Zion with songs of great joy, for thou art of Joseph, and have a right to the fullness,with wives and an inheritance on the earth. For thou shall see the Temple of God built inZion, and do work for the dead, and be saved with all the Father's household, with eternallives forever and ever - AMEN.

The day we got there we were nearly starved, and the Bishop of North Ogden tried todiscourage us, but he let us stay the night. We gave a concert there which gave greatsatisfaction, as I have said we got our blessing there from Brother Hyde, of Salt LakeCity, who was staying there for a while. From there we went to a place called WillowCreek. On our way we passed some Hot Springs, leaving the Salt Lake on our left. Whenwe got to Willow Creek, we had no chance to give a concert. We were very hungry andcalled upon an acquaintance of Brother Rowley's, who gave us bread and cheese. Well, totell the truth it was cheese and bread. We had cheese to last us for another meal. We werevery thankful for it. Well, we traveled from there and we arrived at Brigham City, and wehad no encouragement to stop there. It was then about sundown. We did not have anyplace to stop, so we had to go on again to a place called Capeagen, 6 or 8 miles upthrough a canyon. We met 2 or 3 on our way, we asked how far to Capeagen ahead, andthey would tell us. Some would say another 5 miles, yet we thought we would never getthere. We had quite a time to find a place to stop. The next day we drove on again,

driving down what was called Wellsville Canyon. We came to Wellsville where wefound some people we were acquainted with. We took dinner there and fed our team,which belonged to my brother James and myself, the wagon to Brother Rowley. Afterdinner we drove to a place called Hyrum, where we stopped and gave a concert. Wethought the people would have gone up, as the saying is. We took well and was invited tocome again. Well, we next went to Logan, but did not stop there. We went to a smallplace called Hyde Park. There were 2 or 3 families there we were acquainted with. Westopped at Sister Drency's, a widow woman who used to live in Lehi. We had a splendidtime while we were there. The weather was very stormy, raining and snowing, but we hada good time there. We gave a concert, and from there we went to Franklin, passedthrough Richmond and Richfield. We stopped at Franklin where we gave a concert, alsoat Richfield. While we were at Franklin, we visited a cave. On our way back we stoppedat Richfield, Hyde Park, and Logan. We gave great satisfaction and had crowded houses.We played at all the places on our return. We became acquainted with many of thepeople. The men put a nice little piece in the Deseret News about us. We expect to gosouth but we did not. We gave one concert in American Fork, one in Lehi, one inPleasant Grove, one in Alpine and was glad to get home. We spent the winter at home,that is, what was left. On the 4th of March 1872, we went, my brother James and also oneyoung man, and others.

The Spring of 1872Work on the Point of Mountain

I worked there through some very cold and stormy weather, working all day and sleepingin a wagon box at night. We were building railway grade. While I was there, I read theBible through, from Genesis to Malachi, reading mornings, noon and night. EverySaturday going home, spending Sunday, and returning back to work Sunday evenings. Ithen became acquainted with a family by the name of Russon, who had come into thevalley the fall before from England, in June or July. The track was laid to Lehi, and I wellremember what a jolly time we had on the first excursion that left Utah County, to SaltLake. I went and paid for two of Brother Russon's daughters to go. We had a splendidtime. We went to the Salt Lake Theater. The play was called, "Cinderella or the SilverSlipper. We arrived home safe. After this I went to American Fork Canyon to seek work,my brother Joseph went with me. We had a hard time to get on, it was a railway that wasbeing built up the canyon, but we succeeded in getting on.

We ran a wheelbarrow for a day or two, when the bridge builder, a Mr. Young ofCalifornia, sent us to the camp. After I was there for 2 minutes, our boss by the name ofGeorge Bird, sent me and my brother and 2 others, thinking he would get rid of us. Wewent and worked all day helping to make footbridges across the canyon stream. I tried tobe as handy as I could, handling everything handle end first. We went to our place,sleeping on the ground, with a few leaves or grass under our bed, clothes being wetthrough with rain, as the saying is. Well, in course of a day or two, Mr. Young wantedfour more hands, to help to put up the bridges, and he sent and requested that theKirkham Brothers should come. Well, we went, and I had been getting $1.75 per day, butwe were now to have $2.25 per day, which was good wages, only we had to work with

water, with gum boots on, while putting in the tiles for the large bridges. The boss tookquite a notion to me, and where he went, I was to go. And he wanted me to come andbond to him. Soon my brother Joseph did not like the job and went home. I did not haveto work very hard and was paid well for it. The last month I got $3.50 per day, whichamounted to $87.50.

I was then in possession of $175.00 at home, all in green backs. I once thought I shouldlike to visit my native land. I went to my bishop and asked him for a recommend, whichhe gave me. I went to Salt Lake City, to President Brigham Young's office and he readthe paper, and said my name would be called at the October Conference. I went preparedto go, but my name was not called, and 2 daughters of Brother Russon were feeling verybad. I returned home and went and started to build a home on a piece of land I bought offBrother Empey. I put up a house of one room, and furnished it with a stove, bedstead,chairs, table, and so on, and lived in it for 5 days as a bachelor. I then got consent ofBrother Russon for his oldest daughter Mary, to be married to me, although I wanted theother. We went to Salt Lake City, and on the 16th of December 1872, she was married tome.

In the starting of my Married Life

On the 23rd of December, this same year, I was called to the office of Teacher. In whichoffice I tried to do my duty. My wife Mary and I lived very comfortable during thewinter. I attended my meetings and other duties, and on the 4th of May 1873, I was calledto be second counselor to the President of the Elder's Quorum. During the summer Iimproved the place, and worked about, having bought some carpenter tools while Iworked up American Fork Canyon. On the 2nd of July this same year I was called to be aHome Missionary. I was blessed with a son. We called him George Erastus Kirkham.And the time rolled on and on. The 31st of December 1873, I was ordained a Seventy tothe 68th Quorum. I spent the winter and spring doing some work with my tools atcarpentry, and turned my hand to anything I could get to do, making dobies and paintingand so on. I took a small contract to paint a house for Mr. Wines. I got it partly donewhen there was a call for volunteers to go to St. George, in Dixie, to help build theTemple that was started. So I asked my wife if she would go with me to Dixie, and shesaid she would. So I gave in my name and wife to go. We then had to get ready for ourjourney of 325 miles. I of course, was not able to finish my job of painting, and only got acow from whom I did the job, it was to come to 80 dollars. I worked 15 days, and longdays they were. But, I did not feel like letting the opportunity pass to help to rear one ofthe temples of the last days. I will here state, my intentions were to marry the otherdaughter (Sarah) of Brother Russon, when I could get her. She had the promise of herfather that she should have who she wanted if she would stay single two years. Althoughshe said on one occasion, she did not want me, but that was because she had been told notto have me by those who were opposed to the principle of Plural Marriage, and those whowere afraid.

My Journey to Dixie, 325 Miles1874

Well, on the 23rd of October 1874, we started bidding all our folks goodbye, althoughFather and brother Joseph were with us. We had one team and wagon to us 4, 5 with ourlittle boy George. There were 14 of us going to Dixie, with 4 teams. Our team was loadedwith flour, meat, dried apples, sugar, soup, matches, and all kinds of provisions, besidesour own little notions. I took paper, ink, stamps, and lots of little things we thought wewould need on our way. We traveled the first day 22 miles, and camped near Springville.I called the place Sage Brush Camp. Brother Jacob Bushman, who was traveling with us,was made Captain. After our supper was eaten, the hour for going to bed had come. Wewere called to order and prayers were offered up.

Saturday Oct 24, 1874: After breakfast we traveled through Springville, Spanish Fork,and leaving Pantown on our left, we drove through Payson and also Santaquin, andcamped at York Town, after traveling about 25 miles.

Sunday Oct 25, 1874: The weather was now stormy, having rained from midnight.During the night four of our horses got lost, and about 9 o'clock we got track of them, andwere found and brought into camp. We were on our way again. We were now in JuabCounty. We passed through Willow Creek, a small town, and camped near Nephi City,traveling about 13 miles. After supper in our camp, like style, we got our instruments. Mybrother Joseph had a small fiddle and I had my large bass fiddle. We got them out andplayed for a while over a sage brush fire on the ground. We had a splendid time, afterwhich we had prayers and retired to bed.

Monday Oct 26, 1874: After breakfast, we left Nephi and traveled to Millcreek. We wereinstructed to get some water to drink, as we would not get any water for some miles. Wetraveled on, leaving Levan on the left side of the valley. I had to walk quite a lot of theway, as our team was small and heavily loaded. We arrived at Teasdel Ranch and campedfor dinner. We traveled 18 miles after dinner. We hitched up our teams and traveled onagain, we next reached the Sevier River. We passed over on the bridge by moonlight. Wewatered our horses and started out again. We had to go 3 miles to find feed for our teams,and to pack water for ourselves to drink, having traveled 31 miles that day, we were nowin Millard County.

Tuesday Oct 27, 1874: The weather was very stormy, raining, but our course was onwardand we traveled on. We arrived in Round Valley and passed through a little town calledScipio. We did not stay, but drove through, the road was very muddy. One of our teamsgot stalled but soon got out and we drove up what was called Round Valley Hill. Itcommenced to storm, snowing, and we had to camp and bake our bread. My wife was notable to get out with her little boy, so I got some for her. She could not come out as it wasa heavy storm, and we couldn't cook supper, so we had to go to bed without. We traveledabout 12 miles.Wednesday Oct 28, 1874: The weather was cleared off. After breakfast our horses weredriven to the camp and we started on the road. We traveled through cedars andmountains. We arrived at Holden City, a very pretty place. We passed through about 2miles and camped on Pioneer Creek for dinner. We had to make some dough cakes and

cook 2 rabbits. The weather looked rather stormy, and it was cold. We traveled on andarrived at Fillmore, where my wife got a stone bottle of milk and a loaf of bread, givenher for our little boy. We were very thankful for that. We continued our journey andarrived at a place called Meadow Creek, where we camped for the night in the street. Theweather was called clear and it made our hearts rejoice. We had traveled 30 miles thatday.

Thursday Oct 29, 1874: The bishop of the place, Brother William H. Stoll, invited mywife into their house where she baked some bread for the company. She warmed herselfand little boy. The weather was now looking fine. When we drove in the night before, itwas dark, but we found ourselves in a nice pretty little city. We started on our way andpassed through Corn Creek. We left a small town called Kanosh, on our left. We passedquite a number of Indians. The weather was now warm and the roads dry. We camped ata place I called Dry Hill Camp, because it was a dry hill, and we could not get any water.We traveled on for a few miles and we came to Bakers Canyon, 5 miles through a drearyroad, cedars each side of the canyon. We got through into a valley called Dog Valley. Wewere now in Beaver County, where we saw a great many cattle, but there was nobodyliving there. It was a little round valley in the mountains. We camped there all night. Weall were well, having traveled 19 miles.

Friday Oct 30, 1874: We were called up about 2 o'clock in the morning. My wife andlittle boy stayed in bed while we, the men folks, got out and had a big fire and got warm,and we caught our teams and started off up a large dugway. It was a very rough road. Wetraveled until we arrived at Cove Creek, a very fine place. We arrived there at the peep ofday, traveling about 5 miles by moonlight. A man by the name of Irvy Hinkley, hadcharge of the church cattle and this fort. It was built of stone, to fortify against the Indians(Cove Fort). We traveled on until we arrived at Pine Creek, traveling nine miles beforebreakfast. We all felt well, only looking a little brown with our campfires. The sun shonebright and the Lord blessed us on our journey. And I felt thankful for it, for we knew inGod we are safe. We left to press on again. We traveled along and passed some horses onthe roadside, scattered along through the cedars. We traveled what was called PineValley, the man had to help our team upon the hill. We traveled on until we reached WildCat Canyon, where we stopped for dinner. The sky looked rather cloudy, the wind blew alittle cold, but we continued our journey in Wild Cat Canyon, until we reached the topand drove out of the canyon. We next came to Indian Creek, where we watered ourhorses and drove on, until we came near Beaver City, and camped nearby for the night,near a stream. We had pancakes, boiled potatoes and dried ham for supper, this wascalled 3 Mile Creek.

Saturday Oct 31, 1874: Now in Iron County. The weather was fine and clear, but veryfrosty. All was well in camp. We started out on our way. We passed through Beaver City.I called into a business shop and viewed the city. We crossed the bridge about 9 o'clockin the morning. We traveled on. I got our bottle filled with milk again for our little boy.One of our brethren stopped to get his wagon fixed a little, but soon over took us. Wetraveled on up Beaver Canyon and camped at the top of the summit. I carried my boyaround among the lofty pines and cedars. We made a fire under a large cedar tree,

warmed up some potatoes and fried some ham for dinner. We traveled on down a longand pleasant valley. The sun shone warm and bright and we were singing on our way.Our next camp was a place called Buckhorn Springs. We ate our supper and there wassome talk of starting out and traveling some 10 miles, which would have made us verylate. But our captain, Brother Martin Bushman, finally concluded we would stop allnight, having traveled some 21 miles.

Sunday Nov 1, 1874: We started on our way before breakfast as it was very cold andfrosty. The valley looked rather baron, but it was now the season of the year for lookingbaron, the leaves having fallen and the frost nipped the grass. The feed for our horses wasscarce. We arrived at a place called Paragoonisah. On our way from our camp, we verynear had a runaway. The horses of Brother Bushman got started out off the road, and hadit not been for the men who ran and caught the horses by the bits, just when they did, theywould have got away. There was one of the sisters in the wagon at the time. The menwere walking close by, when the team started in the place we camped at. It was formerlycalled Red Creek, and well it might be, for the soil was quite red. We camped near a cliffof rocks on one side of us and the public field on the other. While we were unhitching, aman drove up in a buggy and said we had better not turn our horses into that field unlesswe wanted to get into trouble. We had traveled already 10 miles without breakfast and wewere now very hungry. One of our brethren by the name of Charles Phillips spoke, andsaid we were on church business. The man said that church business had no right toinfringe on Indian property, so we went on. We tied our horses up to our wagon while weate a bite, after which we drove on and passed through Parawan. They had some verygood houses. The Courthouse was a fine house. We drove down Parawan Field andcamped. It was now about 2 o'clock, my wife mixed up some dough, and after it wasbaked we started for a place called the Summit, where we expected to camp for the night.From Red Creek to Parawan, 5 miles. We reached Summit Creek after dark and got somewater and drove on some five miles. While traveling we had a little accident. One of thehorses belonging to one of the teams, broke his single tree, but it was soon fixed up andall was right again, as we thought. But, we soon missed them again, and we called tothem, but we heard no reply. We swung a lantern for them to see where we were, andthen we turned out off the road and camped for the night. The weather was clear but cold.The wind blew the latter part of the night.

Monday Nov 2, 1874: We were all well and started on our way. We left Johnson Fort onour right. We next arrived at Cedar City, one of the oldest of the county. The streets werelined with beautiful trees, which must be beautiful in the summer season. There weresome very nice houses. The former city was washed away with a flood of water from themountains, which is now rebuilt one quarter of a mile nearer the mountain. They had afine rock Tithing Office, and was preparing for a new meeting house. We stopped at abrother's by the name of Henry McConel, where we baked some bread and fed our horsesin the street with some hay for a while, and then drove on. The wind blew up and by allappearances there would be a change in the weather. But, we were in hope it would keepfine until we arrived at our journey's end. We next drove up to a small place calledHamton Fort. We drove through and passed lots of teams, also 4 drunken men who werevery boisterous, and would not give the road, but we did and had no further trouble with

them. We traveled until late. Our team moved down and we had to double team, and wesoon were moving on again. It was now dark and we had not yet arrived at a campingplace. We kept on until we arrived at Kanarraville, a little town where we camped for thenight, the weather changed up and the wind blew quite hard.

Tuesday Nov 3, 1874: It was now raining a little and rather cold, but looked very stormy.We were in hopes it would clear off and stay fine, for we now had some of the worst roadto travel through, mud and over rocks for many miles. We got along very well, andcamped for dinner on what is called the Black Ridge. We had quite a time trying to driveback a large colt belonging to the town. It ran right up against one of our men, and hethought it had put his wrist out, but it did not. It was quite laughable for us, but not forhim. To our joy the sun came out and was warm again. Where we camped, the scenerywas grand, the mountains were very lofty. While the women were cooking, some of themen went up the side of the mountain to get a good view of the valley. After we ate somedinner, we started down what was called the Black Ridge. We had quite a time passingsome teams on the way down the ridge. In some places the road was only wide enoughfor one team and wagon to drive. And, if anyone would meet at those places, one wouldhave to hitch on the back end and drive until they could come to a place wide enough, forthe turns are so short, men could meet before they saw it. There were some that met us,but we had some of our crowd on ahead on the lookout. We were told to stop where wewere for a while, as there were more teams coming. The road was very sliding in places.My wife walked some of the way down. My brother drove the team. I tended the brake.Well, after some 5 miles we got to the bottom, but we saw some grand scenery, loftycliffs and pine trees on what was called Ash Creek. It was, when we started, a hundredfeet down below us. Oh it was grand to look down upon the scenery. We were thankful toour Heavenly Father for his kindness toward us. After traveling some miles farther, westopped at a place called Bellview. There were only 3 or 4 houses. There we saw the firstvineyard. Brother Jacob later owned a large place there. He was one of the SevenPresidents of Seventy. We camped there all night. The weather was looking very stormy.Our dayís travel was 15 miles. Before we got our supper eaten, it commenced to rainquite hard. My wife had to get into the wagon and I had to fetch her something to eat. Ithas rained for sometime. My father and brother generally slept on the ground, but when itstormed we all had to pile in under the wagon.

Wednesday Nov 4, 1874: The weather was warmer and cleared off somewhat. We roseearly and soon had a fire made. The men went after the horses but did not find them all.Our team was lost. They started out for them, returned and said they could not find them.Our Captain said he hoped Joseph would not go very far before he came back. For he saidwe could divide up the load and go on our way, for we had only 25 or 30 miles to ourjourneys end, but to our surprise we saw the Captain speed the lost horses up among therocks on the side hills. I tell you there was rejoicing in camp for the lost horses. One ofthem said we had not lost any time, for we had to bake bread before we could startanyhow. So after we ate our breakfast we started out. Of all rock roads I ever saw, thiscapped all. After traveling some miles we came to a creek called Dry Sandy, and it was adry place. We could see nothing but rocks and sand, mountains and valleys, themountains 1000 feet high. We now could see some of the curious herbs and trees that

grow in the warmer climate. While walking along I saw a long tranthler in the sand. Icalled to the crowd to come and see it. We came to where the road forked. There was notone of the crowd, which knew which road was the right road of the two. We finally tookthe right road, and it proved to be the right one. And left a small village calledToquerville, the little town I came to some years before with Brother Nails. Aftertraveling some miles over rocks and through sand we arrived at Grape Vine Springs, alonesome looking place. The weather was clear and pleasant. As I said before, we werenow in a warm climate. We met a boy driving a span of little mules with a wagon and 2women and some children loaded with dried fruit. We asked them in the way of a joke ifthey had saved us any grapes. They said we ought to have sent them word we werecoming and they would have saved us some. We passed on and the sand looked very red.We commenced to wonder how people lived and made a living in such a barren lookingplace. The mountains southeast of us were called Table Mountains, because they wereflat on top. We next came to a place called Leeds in a little valley. On our way to theplace, I saw a poor old mule with his two front legs tied together. It was wearing throughthe skin, and he was suffering very bad. I took my knife and cut him loose, and hefollowed us for some distance and then I lost sight of him. Leeds is a little village of onestreet, and that was the public road right through. We continued our driving and arrived ata place called Harrisburg, a pretty little place. But we could not see a half-mile around forthe high hills and mountains around. It was dark when we arrived, then we camped there.All our crowd was happy. The bishop furnished us hay for our teams. He also broughtsome grapes to eat. This was the first fruit we had given us on the road. We had a goodtime. My brother played his fiddle and I sang some songs over a little brush fire untilquite late. The bishop gave us some milk for our little boy.

OUR ARRIVAL IN ST. GEORGE

Thursday Nov 5, 1874: The weather was very fine and warm. All was well in camp. Wefelt well. Brother Milton Daley came to see us, and got a pan and went and fetched it fullof grapes for us. Well, we all had a share of them, and after breakfast we started outagain. About 2 miles on our way we stopped and greased our wagon and then traveled on.It was first sand and then rock until we arrived in Washington. We had been told thatPresident Young was behind us and would be in St. George by night. We found quite alarge town. We also visited the large cotton factory. My wife and son went in. We saw alarge crowd of young women at work. We traveled on from there and we passed throughwhat was called Middleton, just a few houses on each side of the road. Talk aboutvineyards, we could see them here and there, wherever there could be any land foundbetween the rock, in the towns. We traveled on and met Brother Erastus Snow, one of theTwelve Apostles, on a large dugway. He stopped and talked to us and said he was glad tosee us, and if we had plenty to eat. I went up and shook hands with him. He pointed to alarge brack of land we could see, down on what was called the Washington Bottoms,1200 acres. And he said only 600 of it was under cultivation on account of being short ofwater. He said we can raise lots of rocks and sand here. He said that every little creek thatcould be found was built up and taken care of. He said when we got to St. George wewould find Bishop Gardner who would take care of us. We would find him at the tithingoffice. Well, we arrived at St. George at 10 minutes past 3 o'clock. We all felt lost, and

lots of folks in the same fix. I was the first to see St. George of our crowd. We could seethe temple, what there was of it, on our left. We drove into the city and could see quite alarge number of fine buildings, which I will describe in time. Our trouble was to getsettled for the winter. We drove in the tithing office yard. We started to cook, forsomething to eat. Bishop Gardner told us we could stop where we are until Monday, andthen we would be fixed. Myself and two others went and viewed the Tabernacle, whichwas not finished yet. We went to the top of the tower and touched the hands of the clock,when finished it would be one of the finest in Utah. I went to hear the choir practice forthe conference, which was to be held shortly.

Friday Nov 6, 1874: All was well. After our breakfast we cleaned up ourselves and wentto meeting at a quarter to 10 o'clock. The bell in the tower of the Tabernacle commencedto ring out for meeting. The people commenced to gather for meeting. The services wereheld in the basement of the building. I saw on the stand the faces I could learn, BrotherErastus Snow, one of the Twelve. There were many others who were strangers to me.Brother Snow called the meeting to order and the choir sang a hymn on page 15. Meetingwas opened by prayer, by Elder Snow, singing on page 29. The first speaker was BrotherSnow, who said he was glad to see the readiness of the brethren who come to build thetemple. He spoke of the bad roads to Mount Travaile and to Ash Creek, where the coalbeds were. He said they could build a good road one year and the next there is none to befound, in this part of the country, on account of there being so many gulches anddugways. He also spoke on the subject of the united order. He also said President Youngwould not be here until Tuesday or Wednesday, on account of his poor health. The nextspeaker was Brother McDaniel, who said when he came to Dixie he thought there wasnothing could be raised. He spoke on much drinking wine, and advised the brethren fromthe north not to drink too much of the Dixie wine, for it would stupefy them more thanwhiskey of the north. He spoke much on the subject of wine. He said he feared therewould be a heavy storm, and that would wash away the roads, and we would suffer forwood, seeing there was such a large additional crowd come in to stay with us, to helpbuild the Temple. He spoke of the gospel, and ordered the brethren from the north to takecare of their provisions and not to waste any of it, nor waste any of their time either, forthey have a mission to fill. He spoke for some time when the choir sang the hymn onpage 21. The meeting was dismissed by Elder Gardner. The weather was stormy andrained. We went to our wagons, and while the women were cooking dinner we talkedabout our provisions. There were some talk of there not being enough to eat for all ourcamp to stop. We all thought if half of us were back home, they who stayed would bebetter off for food. While we finished our dinner and was scheming what we should do,the bell rang for meeting. Myself, wife and the boy, went to meeting. It was called toorder by Bishop Gardner. The choir sang on page 195, prayer by Brother Cragun, choirsang on page 30. Brother Milo Andrew was the first speaker, who spoke much on thesubject of the recklessness of the Latter-Day Saints children. He spoke of the building upof the Temple, and the building up of the Kingdom of God upon the Earth. He gave us afine discourse. The sweet speaker was Brother Jacob Gates who spoke to some length. Hespoke of the Book of Mormon and the Prophet, and what faith he had when the prisonwall fell down and all was killed. He and Amulek was persecuted by their enemies.President Snow next spoke on the subject of the united order, to a great length. After

which the choir sang, "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow, and the meeting wasdismissed, by Bishop McArthur. Myself and wife were invited out to spend the evening,but my wife did not go. My brother went with me and we had a splendid time. I muststate that Brother Bushman turned his horses into a herd and they got lost, and when wegot home to the tithing office we found a spare horse there. We thought they wereBrother Bushman's, but they turned out not to be his. Afterward we retired.

Saturday Nov 7, 1874: The weather was fine and clear. Brother Bushman went in searchof his horses, but returned without his horses. The herder came and Brother Bushmanwent with him and returned with the horses. Then he began to get ready to return home.Before going to meeting we bid our captain Martin Bushman, a goodbye and God speed.My prayers were that he would arrive home safe. The meeting was called to order byBishop Gardner. The choir sang on page 224, prayer by Bishop Parker. The choir sang.The first speaker was Brother James A. Little, who said he had traveled through theterritory and had learned some of the customs of the people and just found that the peoplewanted to do what was right. He said there were thousands of people who had gone totheir graves without the knowledge of the Gospel, which would have to be worked for.He spoke of the united order. He was followed by Bishop T. Jones of Penacher, who borea faithful testimony to the work of God. The next preacher was Bishop Crosby ofWashington, who bore a faithful testimony to the work of God. The next was BishopRobison of Iron County, who spoke much on the subject of the united order. He said thepoor man was afraid and thought he did not have enough, while the rich man thought thepoor lived on their means, and so it was. He spoke of the young, and also on the Word ofWisdom and given way to bad habits and so on. President Snow arose and gave muchgood advice, about the Word of Wisdom, and many other things, and also upon theUnited Order of Zion. He bore a faithful testimony to the work of God, and he made myblood creep in me. He said the brethren were not to be too zealous in reaching too far inthe Order, and be a stumble block for those who were, for Satan seeks to lead the childrenof men astray. He said he did not expect that we would reap all of the benefits of theUnited Order until Satan was bound. He said our mission was to Turks, Oriental, the Jewsand Indians, and to all other denominations upon the earth. He spoke for some time, onehour and twenty minutes, after which the choir sang an anthem. After meeting I sawBrother John C. Naile of Toquerville. The man I first came to Dixie with years before. Ialso saw the boys of American Fork, who had just arrived while we were in meeting.Afternoon meeting was called to order by President Snow. The choir sang on page 20.Prayer my Milo Andrew. Hymn on page 27. The first speaker, was Brother Robertson ofKanab, who spoke of the blessings of the Lord. In giving an account of his place he said,the frow was full, the stock yards were full, and they were happy. And he spoke by thepower of God. I know it by the Spirit. The next speaker was Bishop John Freeman ofWashington, who bore his testimony to the truth of the gospel. He encouraged hisbrethren and sisters to keep the commandments of God. The next speaker was BrotherLevi Hancock, and one of the Seven Presidents of Seventy. He said he could bear histestimony to all the world. The Lord had revealed the truth to the earth. He said he knewthat Brigham was the man to lead the Church, for he knew it by the Spirit of God. He saidhe had been 43 years in the church. He said he had gone through the mobbing, anddriving of the Saints. Bishop Gardner next spoke. He said he felt to give credit to the

brethren that had worked on the temple. He said he hoped the brethren would takeinterest in the work, and of the temple, for President Young wished to see the temple goup. He advised the brethren to put in a good days work, and not expect to have credit, andreturn home without doing a faithful work. President Snow was the next speaker whoencouraged the Saints to do what was right, and bind up the Kingdom of God. He said wehad better not get too many hands into the united order before we got our hearts, forwhere our heart is, there is where our treasures will be also. The choir sang another song.The meeting was closed with prayer by Jacob Gates. My wife and myself went to see abrother by the name of Samuel Adams. We spent a good time, after which we returned toour home in the wagons.

Sunday Nov 8, 1874: The weather was fine and clear at the hour of meeting. We wentand the meeting was called to order by Bishop Gardner. Hymn on page 291. Prayer byCharles Smith. The singing was done by a Smith Choir, who sang in their own tongue,which was very nice. The first speaker was Charles Smith, the Bishop of Rockville,speaking on the United Order. He said it would find out the good man and would qualifyhim for a greater possession. Brother James Blake read the report of the united order,which mounted to 15,000 in all kinds of production, such as grain, hay and so forth. Thenext speaker was Brother Carter, he spoke free and he said, "Shall we give up the ship,never no never. He spoke some time on the building up of the Kingdom of God. The nextspeaker was Brother Snow, who gave some good advice to the Saints. Next was singingof the Santa Clara Smith Choir. The meeting was called closed with prayer, and we wentto dinner. The sun shined very warm. I wonder how the people took the hot sun of Julyand August. We thought as it was such a fine afternoon we would go and make our firstvisit to the temple. Accordingly, we went and saw the beautiful spot, my wife and littleGeorge our only child. The building was outside of the city on the south side. When wegot there, we walked all around the building. The foundation is built of black rock and thewalls are to be red sandstone. I carried my little son all through. I had many reflectionswhile looking about. I felt to thank God we had the opportunity of coming down to helpto build up the temple in the sunny south, to the Most High, praise to his most HolyName. It was very quiet, for there was nobody there but myself and wife and child. Icould not help but shed a tear when I thought of the goodness of our Father in Heaventoward us. While we sat upon one of the stones of the temple, we returned thanks. Thenwe returned to our wagon.

Monday Nov 9, 1874: The weather was clear and warm. Part of our company was gettingready to go to Ash Creek, to make a road to the coal-mines to get coal for the people. Myfather being one of the company, was going to help the others. We had quite a timeseparating. I was asked what my occupation was. I told them I was a carpenter. Well Iobtained a large room in Brother William McCallester's house for the winter. We hauledour things and went and got a gag of rabbit brush, and some potatoes and meat from thetithing office. We now commenced to make ourselves a party in the courthouse. We hada fine time. Our music was thought grand.

Tuesday Nov 10, 1874: The weather was cool and cloudy. I was called to work on aprivate dwelling for Brother Thomas Judd, head clerk in the tithing office for a while,

until the lumber arrived at the temple. I went and worked all day with Joseph Judd, whowas a fine carpenter, the brother of the other. At night we went and spent the evening atBrother Judd's, and we had a fine time.

Wednesday Nov 11, 1874: Weather was clear, we all were well. It was expected that thePresident would be here today. I was told that 12 men had gone to meet him, and at 10o'clock he arrived. In the afternoon my brother Joseph and George A. Smith were downat the temple, for he had shaken hands with him.

Thursday Nov 12, 1874: The weather was cloudy and remained so all day. I could see themen at the temple from where I was at work. It was a grand sight. Many of the brethrenvisited the temple every day and was watching itís progress. In the evening I wrote aletter home to my wife's parents, Father and Mother Russon.

Friday Nov 13, 1874: After breakfast I went to work. I was told that President Young wasvery sick. My prayer was he would soon be better. I made some inquires about thePresident's health, but could not find out how he was. In the evening I spent my timedrawing a winter scene for home amusement.

Saturday Nov 14, 1874: The weather was clear, but cold. After dinner I was told thatPresident Young was out and in his carriage and had gone down to the temple. I wentdown to sharpen some tools and there I saw the President. As I passed him, I raised myhat towards him, and he did the same to me. The night I spent at home.

Sunday Nov 15, 1874: The weather was clear and fine. Our boy was not very well, butwe went to meeting. Before going in I had the pleasure of shaking hands with PresidentGeorge A. Smith. Meeting was called to order, first hymn on page 224, prayer by BishopMcArthur. The first speaker was William B. Young. He spoke on the subject of death. Heread from the Doctrine and Covenants on page 302, and the 14th paragraph, about thebuilding of the temple. He said his prayer was to God that the brethren would workfaithful on the temple. For the temple was not only for ourselves, but for hundreds andthousands of our dead. He spoke of taking care of our teams that worked on the temple,and so on, to some length. The next speaker was Daniel Taylor, who spoke of the samesubject of temple building. He spoke of the Kirtland Temple, and the destitute conditionof the people in those days. He said he has seen many of the brethren climb scaffoldbarefoot, and go to making the same. He spoke to some length about the early rise of thechurch. He visioned the contrast between the Saints then and now. The next speaker wasPresident George A. Smith, First Counselor to President Young. He arose and said thatwe were a good looking people, and felt to encourage and congratulate us as such. Hethen gave out this notice that he wanted all the brethren who had come to work on thetemple to attend the afternoon meeting. The choir sang on page 7. Meeting closed withprayer by John L. Smith. Afternoon meeting was called to order by the choir singing onpage 108. Prayer by John O. Angus, hymn on page 401. While singing, bread wasbroken, and afterwards blessed and served, and also the water was blessed and served.The first speaker was William B. Young. He spoke of the feeding of the temple teams.There was fear of them not being fed enough to keep them going. The next speaker was

Seamer Young, who bore a faithful testimony to the work of God. John L. Smith was thenext speaker, who spoke of the building of the temple. He said that when the Saints werebuilding the Nauvoo Temple, the brethren had to work as it were, with a gun in one handand their tools in the other. For the enemy was on the alert and was trying to destroy theKingdom of God. He bore a faithful testimony. Erastus Snow spoke upon the subject ofthe thousands of dollars that had been expended in making roads and water ditches,which were washed away every summer by the heavy rains of August and September. Hetold us a great deal about the country of Dixie. The next speaker was George A. Smithwho spoke of the temple. He said that the country was so red that it was expected, andwas intended, to plaster the temple white. He said there would be a contrast between thetemple and the red soil. He also said that President Young had offered to make offeringof the baptism font, of cast iron, which would cost 5000 dollars, as a donation to thetemple. Brother Smith spoke at some length and was very encouraging. The choir sang onpage 259. Meeting was closed with prayer by Seamer B. Young.

Monday Nov 16, 1874: The weather was clear and fine. I went to work as usual. At nightI spent the evening away with my family. My brother Joseph and us lived together.

Tuesday Nov 17, 1874: The weather was rather cloudy. I went to my work all day. Atnight I commenced a drawing school. It was to be every Tuesday night at Brother Judd'shouse. There were about 10 young men who came, and we proceeded to start. Wecommenced with some simple things and worked along. There was one young man bythe name of Samuel Jepperson, who had some little knowledge on some things. Hewanted to learn the human face and body, which I gave him some lesson in.

Wednesday Nov 18, 1874: The weather looked stormy and I told my wife we were goingto have a change in weather, and about noon it commenced to rain. At night I wrote hometo my brother James in the north. The weather was very wet, blowing and raining, whichwas 325 miles away.

Thursday Nov 19, 1874: The weather still stormy and continued to rain most all day. Itdid not hinder me because I was at work in the home.

Friday Nov 20, 1874: Weather was pretty fine. I saw one of our boys who came to Dixiewith us, who had been out to the coal road. I quit work about 9 o'clock, and at noon myfather returned from the coal road. We were glad to see him. The weather had stormed onthem most of the time since they had left. I went out and spent the afternoon at a brother'shouse drawing. At night I went out to play for a party.

Saturday Nov 21, 1874: The weather was cloudy and looked like rain again. I went towork, but returned on account of the weather being wet. Father and myself went down tosee the temple. We had a good look all around. I got up on top of the walls and walkedaround on the walls. When I came down, I found the ladder was gone. I had quite a timegetting down. I found another ladder and with the aid of my father and another man Isucceeded in getting down all right. We went home, and in the afternoon I was busymaking some copies for our drawing school. At night we had a practice of the St. George

Glee Club. We had a good time. My brother and myself belonged to it and we hadsinging and playing.

Sunday Nov 22, 1874: Weather was a little finer. I went to meeting. We listened toPresident George A. Smith who spoke much about the land of Palestine. He had latelyreturned, and about the river Nile and it's change from the time the children of Israel leftto the wilderness, till the present time. He also read from the revelation on pluralmarriage. He preached some time and encouraged the Saints to be faithful unto God. Thechoir sang on page 355, prayer by Brother McDaniel. I attended the meeting in theafternoon. There was much good instruction given. I felt well under such good preaching.President Snow told us there were 2700 cords of rock buried up in the foundation of thetemple. He spoke of the labors of the southern brethren and their hardships of early days.He gave good advice to all.

Monday Nov 23, 1874: The weather was a little clearer. I went to work. I could see themen at work on the temple. It continued to get finer, and at night the weather was clearand fine. The moon shined out bright. I was invited out to a Wild Beast Show, but I didnot go. It was to be held in the court house. I spent the evening at home with my wife.There were two of the teachers come to visit us, so I enjoyed myself better at home.

Tuesday Nov 24, 1874: The weather was fine, but muddy underfoot. My wife was busycooking breakfast over a fire on the hearth, which was very disagreeable. I went to work,and during the afternoon my wife had a notion to go to a Wild Beast Show, which shedid. Tonight I went to my drawing school, after which I returned home. The moon shonebright. There was not a cloud to be seen. The dogs barked about the city. There werelights to be seen in the court house where dancing was going on.

Wednesday Nov 25, 1874: The weather was cloudy and foggy. It looked like the depth ofwinter, and it was cold and still down under foot. I went to work, and the men were all onthe temple. I could hear them at work with their stone hammers, tapping, tapping, butcould not see them for fog. At night the weather cleared off and was still fine. The moonshown bright. I was up late playing and singing.

Thursday Nov 26, 1874: The weather was fine, only fog and rather cold. The sun shoneout every now and then. In some hour after the fog cleared off, disappeared before thebrightness of the sun. My boss gave me so much to do, and I did it and went home muchsooner. After supper we went out and spent the evening and returned home at a late hour.

Friday Nov 27, 1874: The weather was fine. I went to work. My father went to his workmaking mortar down at the temple with my brother who worked at the temple with themasons. We commenced to look for letters but none came yet. Our prayers were that allwas well at home. At about 3 o'clock I quit work and finished what I had to do for theday. At night I went to play with my brother for a party at the 3rd Ward Social. At about10 o'clock we went to the Bishop's to supper, after which we returned and played for theparty, and at 2 o'clock returned home by moonlight.

Saturday Nov 28, 1874: The weather was fine but cold and frosty. I went to work. Theday turned out warm and clear, like summer. Cords of rock passed our door every day, tothe temple. At night I with my brother went into the other part of the house to BrotherMcCallister's, who owned the house, to play for a while. Then I returned to my ownapartment and did some writing. I did so by a little lantern, which shined very dull. Ithought it seemed queer, keeping every dreary day sketch of my life. My wife lay asleepon an old bedstead, which would hardly keep together. My father sleeps on the floor atthe foot of the old bedstead with my brother. We had to put up with a lot ofinconvenience, which would have been more happy if we could have had what weneeded, leave alone what we would like. But our mission was something we were proudof, and with the help of the Lord, we would fulfill it and return home with honor.

Sunday Nov 29, 1874: The weather was fine. I went with Brother McClester to Joseph E.Johnson's, where I saw 200 beehives. We also went through the large garden and saw thereal toback plant, and various kinds of flowers, and different kinds of fruit trees, which donot grow in the north and cold climate, such as the orange and fig, and some others. Wenext visited the printing office and library, and saw and handled the key, which locked upthe Nauvoo Temple before its destruction, and many other things we saw. I enjoyedmyself very much. Before going to the 2 o'clock meeting, as there was no meeting in theforenoon. I went home to dinner and then went to meeting. There was an invitation givento the northern brethren to come to the stand and talk and bear their testimony. There wasone brother who spoke in tongues. After a number had spoke, I went up to the standwhere sat President Young, George A. Smith and Erastus Snow. I bore my testimony tothe work of God. After meeting I had the privilege of shaking hands with the Presidentand others. It was a time of rejoicing to me. The President asked me my name, I told him,he said he wanted all those who had spoken to stop a few minutes, for he wanted ournames. I did not know whether and what for. Soon after I returned home. At night I wentto the First Ward Meeting House. We were told not to know where President Young was,for the wicked were always after him, and other good men, and so on.

Monday Nov 30, 1874: The weather was fine. I went to work all day. At night I spent theevening drawing.

Tuesday Dec 1, 1874: The weather was fine during the middle of the day, but coldmorning and evening. The temple walls are now making rapid progress. They wereforming the round windows, the 3rd from the ground. The weather being warm and fine,the men were able to work well at night. I went to my drawing school, 10 pupils whowere making rapid progress. I spent 3 hours and returned home.

Wednesday Dec 2, 1874: The weather was fine but cold. I went to work. Before long Iwas told that one of President Young's daughters was dead, who was a wife of HyrumClawson. In the evening we heard that the mail coach was broken down and could notcarry the mail. I attended practice of the St. George Glee Club.

Thursday Dec 3, 1874: The weather was looking like a storm. I was told they were goingto take the body of Sister Clawson to Salt Lake City, to be buried there. There was being

made a coffin for her. At dinnertime I looked down towards the temple and I saw thebrethren leaving for their dinner. It looked like a small army coming. At night I receiveda letter from my sister-in-law Sarah in the north. We found all was well. My brother got 3letters, and my father got one. We read them all before supper.

Friday Dec 4, 1874: I went to my work and worked all day. I read until a late hour, "TheArt of Drawing.î

Saturday Dec 5, 1874: Cold and frosty, but warm in the daytime. I attended to my work,and at night I attended my drawing school. All my pupils were progressing, some onething then another. We had a good time together.

Sunday Dec 6, 1874: The weather was fine. After breakfast I started for what was calledSugar Loaf, which was half or 3 quarters of a mile away. I was told it was 8 hundred feethigh above the city. There was a swing in the cave there. I had a swing, and we could seenames carved all over the rocks, in the cave Rio Grande. I could also see a part of SantaClara River. The day was pleasant. In the afternoon I went to meeting, we heard somegood preaching.

Monday Dec 7, 1874: The weather was fine. I worked all day. At night I went to thedrawing school and had a good time.

Tuesday Dec 8, 1874: The weather was fine. I went to work. I could see a vast differencein the walls of the temple. The work was going fast. I rejoiced to see the weather keep sofine, so we did not have to stop the work on the building. At night myself and brotherwent to play for a party in the court house. I took my wife with me. We returned a littleafter midnight.

Wednesday Dec 9, 1874: I went to work, but was not well and returned home. At night Ifelt better and went to the St. George Glee Club. We were getting ready for a concert wewere having for the working men, and all the people.

Thursday Dec 10, 1874: I went to work as I desired not to lose any time, but I could notwork. I had to return home. I felt that I could not work. In the afternoon I went down tosee the temple and had a look around. The work was looking well. At night my wife andmyself went out for a while.

Friday Dec 11, 1874: I went to work all day. There were some of the brethren released onaccount of bad health to go home. At night I went out and spent the evening at BrotherThomas Judd's.

Saturday Dec 12, 1874: I went to work all day. We always quit work at 4 o'clock onSaturday. At night I went to my drawing school.

Sunday Dec 13, 1874: The weather was cloudy. I sat down and wrote a letter to Mother athome in the north, after which I took a walk and returned for dinner. At 2 o'clock I went

to meeting, listened to Brother Orson Hyde preach a splendid discourse. George A. Smithgave some good advice. At night I did some writing home.

Monday Dec 14, 1874: The weather was fine. I went to work. I didn't feel very well. Icontinued to work. At night I went to play for a party with my brother at the courthouse.

Tuesday Dec 15, 1874: Weather looked stormy. Went to work. While we were there,there was a large load of wood brought us. We were glad, for we had to get wood wherewe could, by picking it up here and there. It was sent to us by the church, as we wereworking for the church. We were very thankful, for we suffered some on account of nothaving wood to heat our room. The room we lived in was not plastered on the walls orceiling, and I was cold at night. At night I went to my drawing school.

Wednesday Dec 16, 1874: The weather had changed and it was raining very hard, andlooked like rain all day. I went to work as usual, as my work was indoors. I saw many ofthe men down about the temple, but were not at work. The building was about 2 blocks,or a little farther, from where I was at work. But there were no houses between us, so wecould see it very well. After dinner the weather cleared off the sun came out, and allhands went to work. The wind blew very cold. We could see that it had snowed on thetops of the highest mountains. At night I went to our glee club, and returned at aboutmidnight. I could hear the dogs barking, and it looked nice to see the little stream runningalong side of the sidewalks, and the moon shining bright as I hurried home, where I foundthe little old lantern still burning for my return. My wife and child had retired to bed.

Thursday Dec 17, 1874: The weather was fine but cold. I worked all day with my coat on,on account of the cold weather. At night I went to St. George Glee Club, and returnedhome at 10 o'clock.

Friday Dec 18, 1874: The weather was fine but cold. I went to work, and when I returnedmy wife told me I had been called to be a teacher over the northern brethren who hadcome to work on the temple. At night I went to play for a party in the court house, for thebrethren who worked on the coal road. President Snow and some others were there.Brother Snow thanked the brethren for their labors in that work, and we had a good party.

Saturday Dec 19, 1874: I went to work, but returned as there was nothing to do for theday. At night I went to our practice, for we expected to have our concert on the 23rd dayof December.

Sunday Dec 20, 1874: After dinner I went to meeting and listened to a beautiful discoursefrom President Orson Hyde, and also from George A. Smith. They both spoke by thepower of God. He gave a history of the church from the beginning up to the present time,also the persecution of the Saints by the wicked. He also said if the wicked succeeded indriving the Saints from their homes, it would only cause them to spread and send 10,000missionaries throughout the United States. And he said we would do it, "So Help Us God,and the congregation said, "Amen. He sat down. After meeting I went home to supper,

and then to the 3rd Ward to meeting. I listened to some young man who spoke well, andreturned home.

Monday Dec 21, 1874: The weather was fine. I went to work part of the day. At night wewent to the Bishop's, of the Third Ward, to a beautiful supper. We had dancing andsinging, eating and drinking until 2 o'clock, and then we returned home. In a way our cityin moonlight seemed so quiet and peaceful. No one to molest or to make afraid, we feltwell.

Tuesday Dec 22, 1874: The weather was fine. I went to work and I heard that there were150 soldiers coming to St. George, but for what I did not know. At night I went to ourpractice for our concert. The word has gone out and there were many expecting to come.

Wednesday Dec 23, 1874: The weather was fine. I did not go to work, for I stayed awayto get ready for our concert at night. We all went. We had a large crowd. We sang toabout 500 or more. The evening passed away.

Thursday Dec 24, 1874: The weather was fine. I did not go to work. At night we went toplay for a party, where we had plenty to eat.

Friday Dec 25, 1874: It was Christmas. We went to the tabernacle to a meeting, where wehad speakers and songs, and eating bread, cheese, pie and cake. I was called up to sing. Isang the song which was called, "Let Us Be Happy Together. We had a fine time. Therewere from 8 to 1000 people eating and drinking. The wine was carried around in bucketsof brass, and I saw men coming in with baskets of tin cups. It was a fine time, such as Inever expect to forget. It made me think of the scriptures where the Savior fed themultitude. After meeting we returned home. At night we spent the evening at home withmy wife. We spent the evening very agreeable. I was drawing, my wife sewing, and myfather sat in a rocking chair in the corner. He looked like he was thinking of home, whilewe received our light from a little lantern.

Saturday Dec 26, 1874: The weather was cloudy and cold. I started out for a place calledSanta Clara. Somestance, with the St. George Glee Club to give a concert. On our waywe passed Adam's Mill. The sun shined very bright. We crossed Cottonwood Creek. Wetraveled through sand and over rock. We also crossed the volcanic lava bed, which wassome 12 miles long. It looked like a stream of rock. I walked over it and picked some ofthe rock, and then rode on. We next came to the cotton field, vineyard, and the wheatfields. I also saw a horse feeding in the field which had no tail, which created quite alaugh with the company. The scenery was grand to see. We arrived at Santa Clara anddrove to the meeting house and commenced to unload our things. The children camearound us like bees. They wanted to know what we would take for tickets. We told themwe would take anything for them. We found ourselves in a quiet little place, most ofwhom were German. There was a small band there, about 6 or 7 instruments, which cameout and played for us. While dinner was being cooked, we went down to look at the SantaClara River. We saw a large formal garden which had been washed away by the river,which a few years before, a man could jump across. But now we had to stand and look

for a cross. Even some of the houses had been washed away by the high water. Wereturned and ate a late dinner and then fixed up for our concert. At night we took in fortickets all kinds of pay, such as grapes, molasses and beans. We had a splendid time, afterwhich we went to Brother Starley's to supper. After we went to a next door neighbor tospend an hour or two, and then returned to the meeting house where we intended to sleepall night, as we had our bed clothes with us. Three of us made our bed down on the floorto go to bed. The rest of them commenced their tricks by laying us out of bed and pullingour beds all over the stage floor. We made it again and again, and then one of our 3 puton his clothes, by the name of Thomas Jones, and started for home, some 6 miles. Afterthat, I told the other two brothers of our bed crowd (there was to be 4 sleep in our bedquietly), that we had better give the other boys the slip. And the first chance I got, I putout with one quilt for the first haystack I could find. I ran about one block and a half andgot into a haystack. There I laid for some time underneath, and then returned to themeeting house and found the rest asleep. I said hurrah boys, I commenced to tormentthem by pulling off their bed clothes, but the game ended there and we all had a littlesleep. When daylight came we all got up.

Sunday Dec 27, 1874: We soon loaded up our things and went to breakfast, after whichwe started for home. On our way we saw rabbit brush 8 ft. high. We passed a good manyIndians on our way home. I saw one with what I took to be a watch and chain. I askedhim what time it was. He looked up towards the sun and said it was 9 o'clock. Wethought what they could have done to us if they had wanted, but we were not molested. Inoticed many of the beds we had to cross were strewn with straw so that the heavy loadedwagons would not sink very deep. We arrived at St. George at half past 11 o'clock. Ifound all well at home. We got ready for meeting, went and heard a good meeting. Atnight I went to a meeting in the First Ward. Heard a vision recited over which was veryinteresting, some of which came to pass, but not all. The weather was fine.

Monday Dec 28, 1874: The weather was fine. I went to work all day. At night I went tomy drawing school, but my pupils did not come. It was on account of the holidays. Spentthe evening with my wife.

Tuesday Dec 29, 1874: I went to work. I could see the walls halfway up. It was a gloriouswork, and when I think of it I felt to thank God I could help to do it, and that I lived in theLatter Days when the Lord had set up His Kingdom again for the last time, that all thingsmight be gathered into one as the prophets had predicted from the foundation of theworld to the present. I felt thankful for the testimony of Jesus Christ, which I felt to praisethe Lord, and whatever my lot is to be, I hoped to be faithful to the Lord. At night I wentand played for a party.

Wednesday Dec 30, 1874: I went to work all day. After dinner I saw a wagon loaded withmen who had come from Mount Truche. When we made inquiry we found there were toomany men for the work. At night I spent the evening with my wife and father and brother.

Thursday Dec 31, 1874: The weather was cloudy, it had rained during the night, but notenough to hinder men from going to work. Before I went to work, Bishop Granger of the

Third Ward, came to engage us to play for a party on New Years. We went to work allday. At night my brother and myself went to play for a party in the 1st Ward. We had asplendid supper at Bishop Miller's Ward, and then returned to the dance. We stayed until3 o'clock in the morning, having danced the old year out and the new in.

Friday Jan 1, 1875: The weather was cold, but we were all well. I did not go to work. Istarted up town for a walk. I saw a wagon upset, a wash tub in a tree, a tin shop sign overa furniture shop, and a coppers shop over another place. The meat shop sign was over thetithing office, and many such capers which had been done during the night past by boys.Something I did not approve of. I had never engaged in such. My advice was always tolead a better life and regard peoples properties as my own. In the afternoon I stayed athome to keep my wife company. At night my brother and myself went to the 3rd Wardand played for the party for Brother Granger. At 10 o'clock we went to his house tosupper, and returned to the dance and played until after midnight. I returned home. It wasvery dark. As I walked along, the town clock struck one. I had about 11 blocks to walk.There was a large dog that came running out of a place, which made me walk prettystraight, but I got home safe.

Saturday Jan 2, 1875: The weather was fine. I did not go to work, as I had been up thenight before. I stayed at home all day, drawing a picture of 3 horses heads. At night Iwent to the drawing school. My pupils were getting along well. I spent some happy hourswith them. I returned home and I could hear the Indians sing in their camp, as it was onlyjust outside the city. Our place of meeting was close to the outside of the city. The nightwas very dark.

Sunday Jan 3, 1875: The morning was clear. Myself, father and brother, started out withsome other young men to see some of the country south of us. We passed the Indiancamp, and saw a large duck pond, a small boat. We next came to the Rio Virgin River.We all started to wade, but my father who would not, returned home, and we all went ontraveling some distance bare footed. We crossed another stream and then we washed ourfeet and put on our shoes and socks. There my brother found a large crowbar of iron. Wesaw a lot of new scenery. We soon arrived at the place we had started for, called PriceCity. The people all lived the united order, and I looked to see where the city was. I wastold that this was all, one long old cabin and two or three huts. I felt very much grievedand said, "Give me my home in the north. Although the principles were true, but likemany other things not carried out right. We saw a woman there who was in trouble aboutthe way she had to live. She told us that when her husband came from the north he had ayears bread on hand, but now she had no bread to eat. She shed many tears. She told usmany things, which I have not space to write about. The people ate all at one table. Theyput all they owned together, but some had got away with the bounty and left. We stayedthere for a long time. I sat down and wrote in my book. They said they had put in 25acres and was going to put on 5 more in wheat. They asked us to stop and eat somedinner with them, which we consented. But, as it was not time, we walked about andwent on the hill near by and wandered about for some time. We were told they couldraise two crops of potatoes in one year. We were called to come in and have something toeat. We went in and all sat down to one table, and it seemed as if they had something to

eat. After which we strayed through the fields, which looked like our late spring in thenorth. We crossed the river by wading it and took another road home, strolling throughthe hills and through the valleys. We went up a long winding road and over rocky roads,which were very common in the county. We came to the river again where we had towade. We also met some wagons, which were loaded with folks. We saw a large cottonfield. We arrived home after traveling some 12 miles on foot. At night we went and spentthe evening at Brother Joseph Judd's.

Monday Jan 4, 1875: I had to go and get some potatoes, and also a meat order from thetithing office. We had to get some meat every 2 or 3 days. Our meat orders were on thechurch butcher shop, kept by Brother David Cannon and George Q. Cannon. In theafternoon I went to work. At night we had brother Brutal Taylor, son of John Taylor oneof the Twelve, who had just returned from a mission from England. We were glad to seehim, as I had become acquainted with him at the time the surveyors surveyed the railroadto Lehi. He is one of the surveyors who used to come and spend some evenings with us,before we left home, that is our father's home. Well he told us all about his mission andtravels. He had traveled some 12 or 13000 miles. He had seen many cities. He said hewas sick on the sea and had some very strange weather. He took supper with us, and I hadto go to my drawing school. I left him and went. When I returned, I found my wife sittingby a little fire in our old stove trying to keep warm. After reading awhile we retired.

Tuesday Jan 5, 1875: The weather was cloudy and the wind blew very hard, but clearedat night. We went to the courthouse and played for a party. Brother Erastus Snow wasthere, but did not dance. I sang two songs, which seemed to please all. After the dancewas out, we returned home.

Wednesday Jan 6, 1875: The weather was clear but cold. I went to work. It was veryencouraging to see the rock that is laid up every day on the walls of the temple. I wassorry to hear that one of the men was hurt, but it was not serious thank God. It was myprayer that the men might be preserved from accident while working on the temple. Atnight we had a settling up of our concert we gave at Santa Clara. I got 12 pounds ofgrapes, 18 pounds of peaches and some little store pay. The boys came to our place to dothe business. After some time they left, and after some time we returned to bed.

Thursday Jan 7, 1875: I went to work. I saw many plowing, which looked strange to methat time of the year, but it was like summer. My boss asked me to come out and try myhand at shooting, which I did. I fired 2 shots, the best out of ten, after which I went to mywork, which was just inside of the house. At night, I and my wife, went to a lecture givenby George A. Smith, on his travels to Jerusalem. It was very interesting. He finished bytelling us he would tell us more next time. We returned home, and I wrote a little in myjournal and retired.

Friday Jan 8, 1875: I went to work. I saw Brother Brutal Taylor. He told me he was goingto leave St. George and make his way home to Salt Lake City. He said he would call atLehi and see my folks and give my respects to them. I wished him goodbye, and weparted. During the day, I had given to me, by one of the St. George Glee Club, $26.78,

for the one night performance, which we gave in the tabernacle on the 23rd of December1874. It was the largest I ever received for a performance. We took in over 200 dollars.We paid as high as 30 dollars for the room. We held it in the basement of the tabernacle.When I went home my wife said, she had a lot of Indians to see her, while I was at work,who stayed quite awhile. At night, I went and played for a party in the courthouse. I sang3 songs and danced a jig. A young man by the name of William Hunter, danced aHighland Fling. After the dance was over, we returned home.

Saturday Jan 9, 1875: I went to work. After dinner, I went to the post office and receiveda letter from my brother. I learned that the folks were all well up north. I stayed home andwrote to Lehi, my wife was down to the temple to see the men work. My brother Josephreceived 2 letters from the north. At night, I went to my drawing school.

Sunday Jan 10, 1875: I went to Brother Samuel Jepperson's and called to the barber shopand got a shave and my hair cut. I ate my dinner at what was called the Big House, whereso many of the men boarded who worked on the temple. I returned home and got readyfor meeting. My wife and myself went to meeting. We heard a letter read from PresidentYoung, which was grand. He said the temple was an excellent offering to the Lord, andsaid many things that encouraged the Saints. Brother George A. Smith gave some goodadvice. After meeting we returned home. At night we went to meeting in the First Ward.After which, we returned home and my wife wrote a letter to her father and mother, andwe retired to bed.

Monday Jan 11, 1875: Went to work all day. At night I went to my drawing school andreturned home, and found all in bed and asleep.

Tuesday Jan 12, 1875: I went to work all day. At night I went to play for a party in thecourt house. Returned home at about midnight.

Wednesday Jan 13, 1875: The weather was fine. I went to work all day. At night we, mywife and myself, went to a party in what was called the "Wine Cellar. That is a largeroom above the cellar. We had a nice time.

Thursday Jan 14, 1875: I went to work. During the day I saw teams coming in withlumber from Mount Trumble. I had a peculiar thought about the teams. I felt to say Godbless them, for they had their labor to perform, which we could not do. I also saw 32yoke of cattle coming into St. George to go to Mount Trumble to haul lumber for thetemple. At night my wife and myself went to hear Brother George A. Smith relate on histrip to Jerusalem, which was very interesting. He had such a beautiful way of relatingwhat he had to say.

Friday Jan 15, 1875: I went to work. The wind blew from the north, cold weather, andwas cloudy all day. At night we played for a party in the courthouse. I sang and dancedfor them by request. We returned home.

Saturday Jan 16, 1875: The weather was stormy, raining very hard. I did not go to work. Iwent uptown and saw my name on a theatre bill. I stayed uptown with my friendJepperson, who had a few oil colors. He invited me to use them, and I painted a little seaview. As I passed the post office there was such a crowd we could hardly pass by. I wastold they broke the floor in. At night we went to the theatre and I sang 2 songs. BrotherSnow was there. We enjoyed ourselves very much.

Sunday Jan 17, 1875: The weather was very stormy, rain. I wrote a letter to my brother,after which I went to meeting where we got good instructions. At night I went to the FirstWard meeting.

Monday Jan 18, 1875: Still raining and very muddy. I went uptown and stayed up mostall day painting a vision of a battlefield. While there my father came and said there was ayoung man wanted me. I got up and started home. I found he was from Santa Clara, andwanted us to go and play for a party. We got ready and started. We arrived there safe andmet with Brother Stailey, and he was glad to see us. We had a good old duck meal, plentyof sauerkraut. After our supper we went to the dance. There we saw a lot of rude lookingboys and girls dressed in their homemade clothes. We played until 12 o'clock, then theycalled on me to dismiss the party, which I did. We went to Brother John Hafen's, to havesomething to eat. We stayed there until 3 o'clock, when we started for home. It rained alittle. We got home by 4 o'clock. I received $2.50 gold for my services. I laid down for awhile, and then got up. This was now -

Tuesday Jan 19, 1875: The weather was still stormy. After breakfast I went uptown,posted a letter. Then I did a little more painting at the old shop. At night we played at thecourthouse.

Wednesday Jan 20, 1875: I went down to see about work on the temple, but the boss saidhe couldn't give me anything to do so until Sunday came and the lumber came in. He saidthey were expecting some in every day. He said they would be glad to have me if theyhad the lumber. I returned home and went up to where I did my painting. I was there until4 o'clock. I returned home soon after. One brother, Joseph Larsen, came and told me Iwas wanted down to the temple tomorrow to commence work. I thanked him, I learnedfrom him some of the lumber had come. I was now glad to have the privilege of goingdown there to work. Although I had done as much, as they had the right to say where Ishould work. Well I worked 45 days which was the same credit as working on the temple.But I wished to be right there where I could see the work going on. At night I stayed athome. We were all well, thank God.

Thursday Jan 21, 1875: I went to work down to the temple. I worked putting in joists forthe second floor. In the afternoon I helped to get two of the large stairs in the building.They were 40 feet long, they weighed about 3500 lbs. While we were busy getting themin, the President came along. I shook hands with him. He said he used to wonder how itwas to be old, but he knew now as he was getting old fast. While we were at work gettingone of those large timbers in through the door, it got a quick start and caught one of themen between it and the door post, which hurt him very badly. The President who was

there still stepped up and ordered Brother George A. Smith's carriage, which was closeby, to take him up into town where he stayed. He was badly bruised, but was taken careof very soon. At the same time I got my foot sprained and the skin rubbed off two orthree places, but nothing serious. At night I hopped into bed.

Friday Jan 22, 1875: I went to work all day. The scaffold builders raised the last scaffoldpole with a large sage brush tied to the top of it. After returning home and eating supper, Iwent to play for a party in the courthouse. The weather was clear and there was not acloud to be seen. The moon shone out bright.

Saturday Jan 23, 1875: I went to work all day. At night my wife, father, brother andmyself all went to Brother Granger's to a party. We had dancing and singing andspeaking, and a splendid time, and returned at midnight. We were brought home in awagon. The moon was bright.

Sunday Jan 24, 1875: At about 2 o'clock I went to meeting. Brother Burch was called totalk. While he was up talking, President Young came in. After which he spoke to usawhile by the power of God. Many things he said caused me to shed tears of joy. He saidhe expected to come and talk to us now and then until he leaves for Salt Lake City. Hespoke some on the subject of the Order of Zion. He preached with his hat on, on accountof his ill health. After which he raised himself up and was taken home in his carriage. Atnight I stayed at home and did a little painting.

Monday Jan 25, 1875: I went to work and at 10 o'clock, it commenced to snow. It beingthe first snow we had. Soon after it commenced to rain. We quit work and went home.After dinner I went uptown to the old paint sh