called on a mission to deep creek indians—short time for the journey—prepare for the trip—journey in the desert—horses stolen—travel on foot—saved from perishing with thirst—meet the indians—could understand and speak to them—indian agent's offer—i act as interpreter—preach to the indians—on the return trip—visit governor young with a delegation of bannock indians.
on august 22, 1856, i received a letter from president young, calling me to take a mission of thirty days, west across the desert, to deep creek, to the indians in that region. as i did not understand fully the object of the mission, i thought there was some mistake in the letter, since the distance that had to be traveled out and back would be about five hundred miles and i was to preach to a tribe of indians i had never seen, much less being able to speak their dialect, and do it all with only thirty days' rations. to me it was, to say the least, a singular call; so i went to salt lake city august 23rd, to find out that the letter meant just what it said, no less; only that geo. w. armstrong, an indian agent from provo, was going out to distribute some goods among the indians, and it would be a good time to send a few missionaries to preach to the red men.
from salt lake city i returned to ogden and purchased a splendid mare of widow ruth stuart, on credit, promising to pay when i could. on the 27th i joined mr. armstrong and twenty-five other men in salt lake city, fitting up for the journey, some as guards to the agent and some as missionaries. among those i remember were seth m. blair, oliver huntington, ormus bates, john whitney, j. cooley, harrison sagers, harrison sevier, and peter conover; there were others whose names i do not now recall.
the company left the city on august 29th, and traveled through tooele, rush valley, and over johnson's pass into skull valley. with five others of the party, however, i went around by what is now called dugway, and met the rest of the company at the springs in skull valley.
on september 2nd, we reached granite rock, sometimes called granite mountain, as it stands out in the midst of the desert. there the company camped at some alkali springs, where, with cup and bucket, it took all night to dip water for the stock. next morning we found that the indians had stolen all the team horses, eight head, so the agent called on the men to volunteer their saddle horses to take his wagons across the desert. among the rest, i let my horse go, and eight of us set out on foot to cross the desert, while some went after the stolen stock. other horsemen pushed across to water, and the teams brought up the rear.
the route was brushy and rocky, in some places there was heavy sand, in other parts stiff alkali mud, and much of the time without a sign of a road. the writer was taken very sick with a severe bowel complaint and was compelled to turn to one side, so i fell behind my fellow footmen. the teams lagged in the sand and mud till long after dark. i became so weak and faint that i could not travel any longer, and i laid down on the damp ground, so tired and thirsty that it seemed impossible for me to live until morning without relief. when i had laid down for some time, i heard my bunkmate, doc. woodward, shout that he had found water and filled his canteen, and was coming back hunting the missed and needy one. when he got near enough for me to answer him, i did so, and with a drink i was somewhat revived. i was helped on my friend's horse, and we proceeded on for about five miles to camp and water. one of the party gave me a brandy toddy, spread my blankets, and i turned in, a very grateful sufferer. i was given a cup of coffee, after which i felt very much relieved, and by morning was ready to resume the journey, the wagons having come up about 11 p.m. next morning, september 4th, we moved up five or six miles, to what was called fish springs. there we found a number of indians, and the party pitched camp for a few days.
when the animals had been cared for and fires built, the indians gathered around in considerable numbers. as they were talking among themselves, the writer understood and commenced to speak with them in their own dialect, at which they were surprised and said one to another, "who is this man, that talks our talk? he has never been in our country before." i was no less astonished myself; and i call the reader's attention now to the peculiar feature of a man being called to fit himself out with provisions to last him thirty days, travel out in the desert two hundred and fifty or three hundred miles, and preach to a tribe of indians in whose country he had never been and whom he had never seen before. yet when the agent's interpreters failed to get the indians to understand, the agent asked if i could talk with them. i told him i had never seen these indians before that hour, "but," said i, "i understand them, and you see they understand me." "yes," said the agent, but i do not see how it is that you can talk with them. i have two men employed as interpreters, but they cannot make the indians understand. now if you can make them comprehend what i wish to tell them, i will pay you three dollars per day from the time that you left home until you return there."
"i do not know whether i can do your talking or not," was my response to this proposition. "i came here to preach to this people, and i have power given me to do it in their own tongue. but i do not know whether i will be permitted to speak for you or not; if i am, i will talk for you." "all right," said mr. armstrong, "have them form a circle in front of my wagons, and tell them who i am, and what the great father at washington has sent me here for; that i have brought them clothing and blankets as a present from the great father at washington, and that he expects them to be good people and live in peace with each other, and also with other people, and if they will do so the great father will send good men to bring more goods to them."
when i told them what the agent wanted, they at once formed a circle as desired, to the satisfaction of all present. then the agent distributed the goods, to the great pleasure of the indians. he talked very kindly to them and gave them much good advice. i interpreted what he said, and then continued to preach to them, telling them about the book of mormon and their forefathers, and many other things of interest to them. i seemed to have perfect liberty of speech as i desired it, in their dialect, and they listened attentively to all i had to say.
the next day seth m. blair, peter conover, ormus bates and myself and four or five other men that belonged to the missionary part of the camp, employed an indian guide to travel south around the head of deep creek, to see what natural advantages there were for settlements, but we failed to find anything inviting until we came to deep creek, where the country seemed quite suitable for stock raising. about the 11th of september the party returned to the agent's camp, where we again met with many of the indians, who wished us to stop and live with them as their friends, adding, "if you will not stop with us, then tell the big mormon captain to send some good mormon men that will tell the truth and show us how to make clothes like the white man."
it was the next day, i think, that the party started back to salt lake city, the agent having secured his team horses. we traveled north of granite rock, and around the point of the mountain to the lake, thence along the shore to grantsville. we tarried one day with mr. cooley, and partook of the hospitality of himself and family.
after our visit to the deep creek indians, some of them claimed to have received dreams and visions, in which heavenly messengers appeared and told them to go into tooele and call on the bishops, who would tell them what to do, and for them to obey the bishops. accordingly, scores of them went to grantsville and related their story, when they were told to believe in christ and repent and be baptized. many of them obeyed this advice, and then a missionary was sent out and located among them.
with our one day's rest at grantsville, the party continued on to salt lake city, where mr. armstrong paid me ninety dollars in cash for my services as interpreter. i returned home and paid the ninety dollars on the mare i had purchased on credit for the mission. my labors as a missionary, however, were still called for, and i visited all the settlements in weber county, also the indian camps, and acted as a presiding teacher in ogden city, often being called to arbitrate differences between the white people and indians. about that time snag, the bannock indian chief, and twelve of his prominent men called on me to accompany them to salt lake city to see president brigham young on some business. they said they wished a friendly talk, and to tell some of their grievances and ask some favors of him. the latter constituted the greater part of their business. i accompanied them to president young's residence, where he received them kindly, furnishing them with necessary supplies of food and fuel. next day, after they had had a very friendly talk with the president, he gave orders to the bishops in the northern settlements to supply the indians' wants as far as practicable, as it was cheaper to feed than to fight them. then after all the complaints of the bannocks had been satisfactorily adjusted, we left, they for their homes in the north near fort hall, the writer for ogden, where i continued my labors.
