The Salmon River Mission: An Account of Its Origin, Purpose, Growth and Abandonment

IMPROVEMENT ERA. Vol. III. SEPTEMBER, 1900. No. 11 THE SALMON RIVER MISSION. AN ACCOUNT OF ITS ORIGIN, PURPOSE, GROWTH AND ABANDONMENT. BY JOHN V. BLUTH, CLERK OF THE WEBER STAKE OP ZION. I. [The following account of the origin, purpose, growth and abandonment of the Salmon River Mission has been gathered from the conversation, and the private records, of several of the prominent missionaries who took part in the work. It has been read to, corrected and sanctioned by, Presidents L. W. Shurtliff and Charles F. Middleton, of the Weber Stake of Zion; Colonel David Moore, who was the secretary of the original organization; and also Elders Joseph Parry and F. A. Miller, all of whom were among the leading actors in this thrilling drama of early colonization in the far West. The Era takes great pleasure in presenting to its readers the first extended narrative of this important mission which, though a seeming failure, was really the successful though remote beginning of the colonization efforts of the Latter-day

802 IMPROVEMENl ERA. Saints which has since made the Snake River country and southern Idaho a veritable Garden of Hesperides. We shall be pleased to receive from other survivors of the Salmon River Mission additional facts or incidents that will prove interesting, or that will add to the true history of the movement. — Editors.] In the settlement of these valleys the maintenance of friendly relations with the original owners of the soil — the Indians — became one of the most important problems for the new settlers. President Young's solution of this problem may be found in one of his expressions, so often quoted: "It is cheaper to feed an Indian than to fight him." This was his policy during the thirty years he presided in the Rocky Mountains. To that end, under his guidance and instruction, attempts were made to establish colonies among the Indians, that in teaching them how to live by tilling the soil they might be won from their roving and depradatory habits and be taught the arts of industry and thrift. Some of the attempts failed in the establishment of permanent settlements, though each had its influence for good, and proved the wisdom of the policy of President Young. In the year 1 855, some three hundred missionaries were called to various parts of the country. Something over a hundred went west into Nevada, which was then part of Utah territory, under the leadership of Apostle Orson Hyde, settling near Carson City, where they remained until the "Move;" another one hundred, under the guidance of Elder George A. Smith, went southward, intending to settle the country in Iron County, which became a permanent settlement; some forty or fifty went out to the country near Fort Supply, about twelve miles from Fort Bridger, which settlement was broken up at the time of the "Move," and twentyseven were assigned to take the mission to the Indians in the vicinity of Salmon River, in Idaho, then Oregon Territory. It is this last-named mission of which this article will treat. The missionaries were called as all missionaries have been called in this Church, the majority of them having some five or six weeks in which to prepare for the trip. The personnel of the party was as follows: Thos. S. Smith, Ezra J. Barnard, Isaac Shepherd, of Farming-

THE SALMON RIVER MISSION. 80a ton; Baldwin H. Watts, of South Weber; Geo. R. Grant, of Kaysville; Charles Dalton, Israel J. Clark, of Centerville, Davis County;: Wm. H. Batchelor, Ira Ames, Wm, Brundridge, of Salt Lake City^. Thomas Butterfield, of West Jordan, Salt Lake County; Wm. Burgess, of Provo, Utah County; Abraham Zundel, Everett Lish, of Willard, Box Elder County; Francillo Durfee, David Moore, Benj.. F. Cummings, Geo. W. Hill, Gilbert Belnap, Joseph Parry, Nathaniel Leavitt, P. G. Taylor, Charles McGeary, John Galliher, John W^ Browning, Wm. Burch, David Stephens, of Ogden, Weber County, Utah. The instructions received by the missionaries were to settleamong the Flathead, Bannock or Shoshone Indians, or anywhere that the tribes would receive them, and there teach the Indians the principles of civilization; teach them to cease their savage customs and to live in peace with each other and with the whites; to cease their roving habits and to settle down; also to teach them how to build houses and homes; in fact to do all that they could to better the condition of these fallen people, and bring them to a better life. They were also instructed to take with them sufficient provisions to last them one year so that they should not be a burden to the people whom they were to civilize and convert, but rather to be able to feed them. They were also instructed to he honest and upright in all their intercourse with the red men. Themissionaries were promised that if they would labor in humility for the redemption of these people and always have their welfare atheart that God would bless them and crown their labors with success. On May 18, 1855, having taken farewell of their families^ these twenty-seven men started out into the wilderness to make a home with the savages of the northern hills and valleys. They traveled northward through what is now Brigham City, at that time entirely unsettled, thence along the eastern base of the mountains, crossing Bear River a little northwest of where Collinston is: now located. There were no roads in those days, for they were pioneers in settling this northern part of the country. They had to make the roads as they went along, had to build bridges, or ford the rivers and creeks as best they could, their route lying up the Malad Valley. Up to the time of reaching Malad Valley their or-

804 IMPROVEMENT ERA. ganization had not been effected, except that Thos. S. Smith had been appointed president of the party. A day's journey after ferrying across Bear River, they met the company of missionaries bound for Nevada, under Orson Hyde. Here they stopped and completed their organization, with Francillo Durfee, captain, and David Moore, secretary. Elder Cummings, who was at that time a captain in the Territorial Militia, was also appointed to assist Elder Durfee as captain of the guard. The outfit consisted of thirteen wagons with two yoke of cattle to each wagon, and a few cows. The party was divided into messes, five or six members to a mess, each member of which had his particular duty to perform. On the journey, their method of camping was that adopted by the Pioneers. Each morning and evening they gathered in prayer meeting, each member taking his turn according to roll call. After being thus organized, they parted with the company bound for the west, and resumed their journey northeasterly, reaching the Bannock range of mountains in five or six days. Crossing this range, they continued their journey, passing close to the point where Pocatello is now located; crossed Ross' Fork and Blackfoot River, following up the Snake River which they also crossed once, until Idaho Falls, then named Eagle Rock, was reached. Noticing a very large rock in the center of the river at this point, it was suggested by some that here would be an excellent place for a bridge. A bridge now spans the river at this point. Turning northwestward, on leaving Snake River, they reached Market Lake, passing it on the east, and then crossed the lava beds. It was on the 6th or 7th of June that they left Market Lake, camping that evening at what was known as Muddy Lake. This was no more than a shallow depression in the country filled with water from the winter snows. At this time of the year, it was almost dried up and what water remained was thick and of a creamy tint, absolutely unfit for man or beast. In consequence, they had no water that night and left the next morning without breakfast, hoping to reach a creek the willows of which, it was reported by two of the brethren, could be seen about an hour's travel ahead. What they had seen, however, proved to be a mirage. They traveled a distance of twenty-five miles until late in the afternoon; they were almost perishing from thirst. Some of the cattle had already

THE SALMON RIVER MISSION. 805 given out and had been left on the road. When almost driven to despair, they reached the foothills of the mountains and came upon a stream of water. Then there was rejoicing. After they had satisfied themselves, water was sent back to the cattle which had been abandoned, and they were saved; thus they narrowly escaped one of the greatest dangers on their trip. They named this stream Spring Creek. At one time it was also called Birch Creek, and is now known in that section as Little Lost River, as the stream disappears in the desert. Along this stream they traveled for a distance of sixty miles on a gradual ascent until the top of the Salmon range was reached, at the head waters of the east fork of the Salmon River. A day's journey down the valley, they met Rocki-kae, a noted Indian chief, and his family. They told him the object of their trip and were made welcome by him. They traveled down this river in a narrow valley, and finally stopped at a point about twenty miles above where this river empties into the Salmon River. This point was reached June 15, on the thirtieth day of their journey. At this point the valley is not over a mile wide, situated at an altitude of about five thousand feet. The hills on the east, where the settlers afterwards secured their fuel and lumber, were well wooded. The settlers had now come a distance of 333 miles from home, that is, from Ogden, as was shown by the odometers they kept on the wheels of their wagons. The point picked upon for their fort was directly on the stream which now bears the name of Lemhi River. Here they at once began preparation for the building of a fort between the mountains on the east and the river, which they named Fort Limhi, the name being taken from the Book of Mormon. It is now spelled on the maps Fort Lemhi, or the Lemhi Agency, the country in the vicinity having been made an Indian agency and reservation since the abandonment of the settlement by the Saints. The country through which they had traveled was at that time but little known, and they had to find their way without guides, depending only on the information that they received now and then from straggling mountaineers who lived by their trapping, hunting and trading with the Indians, as to the direction they were to take to find the place where the

806 IMPROVEMENT ERA. tribes mostly gathered. The country was then known as Oregon Territory, which included what is now Idaho and Montana. Almost totally, it was inhabited|by Indian tribes who were generally hostile and had but little sympathy with the whites, upon whom they looked as intruders who would interfere with their hunting, fishing and trapping grounds. On their arrival, they found a large gathering of the Indians already there, mostly Bannocks, Shoshones, and Nez Perces, who had come up this way on their annual fishing trip, of which more will be said later. George W. Hill, who had learned their language, acted as interpreter, and through him the missionaries succeeded in making the Indians understand that they had come there to settle, that they were their friends, that they came to bless them by teaching them how to till the ground and how to build houses, so that they could live as the whites, and telling them that if they had no objections they would like to stop there and settle with them. The missionaries were received very kindly and were permitted to occupy the land and to cut the necessary timber for their houses, corrals and forts, but they were not to kill any game nor to catch any fish, of which latter there was a great abundance. That is, they were not to do so for the purpose of sale or profit, but they were allowed to have what they needed for their own use, though the brethren preferred to pay for what they used by the exchange of such articles of trade as they had at their disposal. After the brethren had determined on the site for the fort, they at once began to get out some water for irrigation. The season was late, but they felt that they must still try and grow something for their winter's supply. The water was easily brought out of a small creek some fifty or sixty rods above Fort Limhi, where a dam was put in; they began plowing and planting, putting in quite a piece of ground in peas, potatoes, etc. This was the first irrigation ever done either in Idaho or Montana, or for that matter in the entire northern part of the country, so far as we now have record. In fact, Bancroft, the historian, gives that credit to these early settlers. The large canal built in 1857 is still in use by private parties who settled there after the mission had been abandoned. The settlers, however, found to their sor-

THE SALMON RIVER MISSION. 807 row that not only had the planting been too late, so that, while the crop gave great promise, it could not mature, but the grasshoppers swooped down in countless numbers and ate off the entire crops to the ground. A strong corral was built for their horses and cattle, and their next labor was to build the fort and put up houses for the winter. A spot, sixteen rods square, was laid out, and on the lines trenches were dug; logs about twelve feet long were placed in these trenches to the depth of three feet, making the palisade about nine feet high. Gates were placed in these walls, one on the east and the other on the west. The houses within this fort were built of logs. There being no mills, all the lumber to be used for doors, windows and floors had to be sawed out by hand. The brethren felt that they were but a mere handful of men in the midst of several strong tribes of Indians, generally hostile to the aggressions of the white man, and they were compelled to take every precaution against attack. Every night a strong guard was kept over the fort and the cattle, so as to prevent surprise and attack; and for the first year, the cattle had to be herded every day by a number of the brethren. They never went into the timber to get logs for lumber and fuel unless they were as heavily armed as their stock permitted them to be, always a rifle and a navy revolver. The summer's labor was exceeding arduous and fatiguing. Those now living, and to whom access has been had for this account, say that they never worked so hard in their lives as during this summer in order to prepare themselves for winter, both as to the needed supplies and as to the necessary protection and shelter from the hard winter and the Indians. In addition to their labors in plowing, planting and building, they also aided the Indians in their fishing. As has already been stated, this was the fishing season, and the gathering of the Indians was very great. Early in the spring, the younger salmon, what is generally known among us as the salmon trout, come up the streams for spawning. These will weigh from eight to fifteen pounds. When they have departed, some time in the latter part of June and early July, the larger salmon come in from the ocean in shoals up the Columbia river, branching out into the various streams that empty into it, coming up the

808 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Snake, then the Salmon, and finally up almost to the headwaters of the Lemhi River, or the east fork of the Salmon, in fact, as far up the smaller streams as they can deposit their spawn. Prior to their arrival the Indians prepare for the capture of the salmon, and in this work they were this season helped by the missionaries. They aided them in constructing the dams which are made across the river. A net of peeled willows, woven together with their own bark, is stretched across the river on a framework of poles. In this net or dam, whichever term may best be used, a gateway of willows is made, large at the end facing the ascending salmon, and narrow where the fish pass through into the trap. Some four rods above, is placed another similar network, through which there is no passage. The salmon, on reaching the lower net, swim along until the opening in found, pass through and make the same search at the upper net. Seldom do they make the attempt to pass down the river, and if they did, they would find it difficult to get back. In their anxiety to ascend the stream, they jump the upper net to pass over. Salmon have been known to jump seven feet in the air, in their attempts to cross this barrier. To prevent their escape, a willow basket-work is erected on the upper side of the net, which receives all that succeed in getting over the net proper. As the fish, thus hemmed in, find no escape, the trap is soon perfectly alive with a struggling mass of salmon. Then the work of capture begins, and the fish are thrown out on the ground by the hundreds. As high as three hundred salmon have thus been caught in a few hours, weighing all the way from twenty to sixty pounds each. These fish are then sliced thin and hung up to dry on willow scaffolds, with a small fire underneath to partially smoke the sliced fish, and when thoroughly dry, they are placed inside the skins of the larger salmon, tied up in bales and put away for winter use. Salmon, thus dried, cured and baled, will keep in good condition for an idefinite length of time, and formed one of the chief supplies to the tribes in that vicinity during the winter. Prior to the loss of their crop through the grasshoppers, it was ascertained that the supplies would run short and that the seed remaining would not be sufficient for next year's planting, so it was found necessary to send some of the brethren back to

THE SALMON RIVER MISSION. 809 Utah for these things. About half of the brethren took this trip, among them being Elders Moore, Belnap, Durfee, McGeary, Grant, Clark and Taylor. They returned November 19 of that year, bringing with them their families. Francillo Durfee brought his wife and three or four children; David Moore, his wife and daughter, Louisa; Charles McGeary brought his wife, and I. J. Clark his wife and three children. Sisters Durfee, McGeary and Clark, and Sister Moore and her daughter, Louisa, were the first white females to settle in that part of the northern country. The last-named, on January 4, 1858, became the wife of L. W. Shurtliff, now President of the Weber Stake, who was then but a stripling boy. He had come out in August in company with John Leavitt, taking out a load of salt and supplies for the mission. Winter set in quite early in November, bringing with it a large number of Indians. They had been told that the white settlers at Fort Limhi were their friends, and if that were so, they naturally expected that the settlers would share their food with them. Ta maintain a friendly feeling, the settlers complied with their wishes, and soon discovered that they would be short of food themselves. By the first of December, President Smith ascertained that their flour supply would be exhausted before March 1, and therefore called the brethren together for a council. The consensus of opinion was that some of them must go to Utah for more supplies, returning as early as possible in the spring. During the year, though the Elders had been hard pressed with the work necessary to prepare themselves for the winter, they had not forgotten the spiritual part of their mission. They had preached the Gospel to the Indians, and had baptized a number of men and women. While the results in this work were not as far-reaching as they could have wished, the Indians apparently failing to sense the nature of the covenants they were taking upon themselves, it had the effect of making the settlers acquainted with them and gaining their respect and good will. They had been treated with respect and kindness by the Indians, and had dealt so honestly with them that they felt they were in no danger. Though a mere handful among these tribes, they felt as safe as if they were at home among their friends, and therefore had no fears in reducing their numbers by sending a delegation home to Utah dur-

810 IMPROVEMENT ERA. ing the winter. Volunteers were called for and eight responded. They were G. W. Hill, Joseph Parry, Abram Zundel, Wm. Burch, Ira Ames, Isaac Shepherd, Thomas Butterfield and William Batchelor. They left December 4 on their dangerous journey of over three hundred miles. The snow was at that time nine inches deep, and they had two ranges of mountains to cross. Their outfit consisted of nine men, six yoke of oxen and three wagons. As one object of their departure was the saving of provisions, they naturally took with them only a scant supply. As they traveled, the altitude increased, the snow became deeper, and the weather grew colder. On the top of the Salmon Mountains particularly, the cold was very severe. Here, one day, they saw a herd of elk covering perhaps ten acres of ground, numbering several hundred, a larger herd than they ever saw afterward. On the 16th, they reached Fort Hall, at a time when all their provisions had been consumed. The snow at this point was fifteen inches deep. They called upon Captain Grant who lived here, engaged in trading with the Indians. The old man was sitting up in bed when they stepped into his cabin. In great astonishment, he threw up his hands exclaiming: "My God, and where do you come from?" Had they dropped from the skies, he could not have been more astonished, for he did not think it possible that any one could travel in such weather and with such an outfit. They were treated very kindly at this point, Captain Grant giving them all the beef they wanted, a little bacon and groceries and some moccasins, but he could furnish them no flour, the severity of the winter having brought to the fort an unusual number of Indians. Thus supplied with a few provisions, they proceeded the same day on their journey, having still one hundred and eighty miles to go. In crossing the Bannock Range, they found the snow so deep that it was a serious question whether they should be able to cross. One day they traveled from early morning to late at night but succeeded in making only three miles, the snow having to be tramped down by the brethren in front of the cattle before they could pass. That night they camped without food or water in a driving snow storm, consequently without fire or supper. They proceeded the next morning on their journey without break-

THE SALMON RIVER MISSION. 811 fast or food for the cattle, going down the mountain. At noon, they stopped near a large spring at the head of the Malad Valley where the cattle were given an opportunity to crop the little grass and sage brush on the hillsides where the wind had cleared the ground of snow. Two days afterwards, they camped near Deep Creek, at a point where Malad City now stands, and the next night they reached the Utah line. Here a few families had settled several months prior, but they were exceedingly poor and could give the travelers but little aid. They were the first settlers in Malad Valley and were in charge of James Frodsham, a name wellknown in many parts of Utah. The following day, Christmas eve, they left the settlement and forded the Bear River under great difficulties, the cold being intense, and the river frozen on both shores, though open in the center. They arrived in Ogden, December 26, in good health and "mighty hungry," most of the brethren more or less frost-bitten. As an illustration of the difficulties under which the missionaries'had responded to the call made of them, the condition in which Elder Parry had left his family may be cited. On his return this time, he found them in better health and circumstances than when he left, for then their condition was deplorable. They lived in a small log cabin, and for five months prior to his departure, his wife had been confined to the sick bed. On his departure, he left her perfectly helpless, with three children, one of them an infant and the oldest but five years of age, a thirteen-year old girl being all her help. Flour was selling at that time at twenty-five dollars per hundred, and in order to make up his proportion of the necessary year's supply, he was compelled to take with him all the flour they had. Thus was this brave woman left sick and helpless without food or money. She considered it her husband's duty, however, to perform this mission, and was willing to make all necessary sacrifice that good might be accomplished. All of the brethren had left their families in somewhat similar circumstances, and naturally rejoiced at the temporary reunion. Wm. Batchelor found that his wife, whom he had married shortly before being called on this mission, had died during his absence. Their cattle arrived in Ogden as living skeletons, having dropped to this state from the well-fed and sleek condition they exhibited

812 IMPROVEMENT ERA. when the journey began twenty-one or twenty-two days previously. The people in northern Utah were at this time passing through what ever since has been known as the "hard winter." The grasshoppers had destroyed the wheat, and the intense cold was killing the cattle by thousands. Many of the Saints were compelled to live on bran-bread, and on the carcasses of the dead cattle, in order to save themselves from starvation. Owing to the death of their cattle, most of them had to haul their fire wood on hand sleds during the entire winter. This company of nine left Ogden on their return to Limhi, on March 28, 1856, in charge of Elder Parry. They brought with, them additional supplies, and were accompanied by twenty-two new missionaries, as follows: Alexander Hill, John Preece, Sylvanus- Collett, Thomas Abbott, Wal. Mclntyre, William Perkins, Thomas Carlos, Thomas Day, Clifton S. Browning, Joseph Harker, Jacob Miller, George McBride, Henry A. Cleveland, Thomas Bingham, William Shaw, John Murdock, Pardon Webb, James Walker, R. B. Margetts, Henry Nebeker, William Bailey Lake, H. C. Hadlock. This party reached Fort Limhi, May 15, 1 856, and found the mission in good condition. During this year they planted considerable grain and vegetables, which gave promise of an abundant harvest; but the grasshoppers hatched their eggs by the millionsand devoured all the young crops, cleaning the fields as a floor and leaving them barren. Thus, for the second time, there was a total failure of their crops, nothing being left except here and there a straggling stalk of wheat, sufficient to prove that wheat could readily be raised at this point, contrary to the expressed statement of the mountaineers that the altitude was too high and the summer too short, in that mountain country, for the raising of grain. This summer, the mission suffered greatly for want of bread. For weeks they lived on fish, butter and milk. During this summer Elders Moore, Cunningham and Parry built a small grist mill. Elder Burgess having brought the mill-stones with him from Utah, while Elder Moore brought the mill-irons. Because of the failure of their crops, about one-half of the missionaries left for Utah during the middle of the summer to bring new supplies and seed wheat. The harmony of the mission was greatly disturbed by the contentions and disputes caused by some of the brethren who had

THE SALMON RIVER MISSION. 813 failed to drink in the spirit of the work, and who preferred to go contrary to counsel in their labors and in their trading with the Indians. On June 30, a party of nine brethren left for Utah, among whom were these contentious spirits, and the mission rejoiced when they took their departure. Among the new missionaries who arrived during this summer were M. D. Hammond, H. V. Shurtliif, E. Robinson and Owen Dix. In August, L. W. Shurtliff and Nathaniel Leavitt carried the mail to Utah, and this time had a narrow escape from the Indians near where Bailey Lake was afterwards shot and killed. Late in the fall. Elders Hill, Parry and Lychoneus Barnard were sent to Utah with the mail from the mission. They, as well as other brethren who went home this fall, among whom was David Moore, who took with him his family, were given the privilege of remaining home during the winter, with instructions to return as early as possible in the spring of 1857. By this time, the brethren had made great progress in learning the Shoshone language, and were therefore better able to instruct the Indians in the principles of the Gospel, in the manner of their living, how to work, and how to better their condition. They met with very little success, however, in civilizing the Indians, and inculcating principles of industry. Their roving habits made them entirely unadapted for work, and they preferred that the brethren of the mission should do what labor was needed. But they entertained an excellent feeling toward the brethren and their families. Several of the missionaries married Indian women; there was no jar, no trouble, everything appeared satisfactory and full of good will. A little over one hundred Indians, men and women, had been baptized. In May, 1857, President Brigham Young and a large company of the authorities, including Heber C. Kimball, General Daniel H. Wells and several of the apostles and leading men of The Church visited the mission. President Young told the brethren, in meeting, that they had come too far from home, as, in case of trouble, immediate help could not be sent. They should have stopped at a point about Blackfoot and settled there so as to be nearer their brethren. Otherwise he was pleased with the labors of the mission, and the spirit manifested, and now that they had settled here

814 IMPROVEMENT ERA. and everything seemed propitious he would see that more aid was given them by increasing the strength of the mission. In his private conversations as well as in his public discourses, it was evident that he was not satisfied with the location chosen. Instead of a broad, open country, such as the Flathead country further north, there was here only a mountain gorge. The fort stood under the hills from which hostile Indians could easily fire on the inmates. Had it been built further west, they would have been too close to the river with its heavy growth of brushwood furnishing a safe lurking place for the savages. He advised the brethren, for their better protection, to build a blockhouse on a knoll lying east of the fort, build a mud wall around the fort, and put up strong bastions. In fact, the visiting brethren seemed impressed with a sense of coming trouble, and with the necessity of taking all possible precaution against the treachery or the easily aroused enmity of contending tribes, in the midst of which the settlement had been established. A number of meetings were held, and valuable instructions were given. The brethren were exhorted to be patient and kind, to encourage and instruct the Indians, always set a good example before them, and never to bring reproach upon the cause. The visit proved exceedingly encouraging to the struggling missionaries. They were troubled with grasshoppers, to some extent, this year, but succeeded in raising a fair crop of potatoes, and other vegetables, and two thousand five hundred bushels of wheat. Thus, after struggling three seasons against poverty, an unfavorable climate and the destructive grass-hoppers, they were at last successful in raising sufficient produce to sustain the mission until another harvest. The mission demonstrated the fact that grain could be raised on the head waters of Salmon River. The mission raised the first grain grown in Idaho and Montana, built the first houses and grist mill, and made the first irrigating ditches in that country, thus introducing this great system which has transformed the vast country now included in these states, from a desert to a fruitful country. In September of this year Elder Parry, who had returned in the spring with the other brethren, was sent back to Utah in company with Elder Belnap, taking with them the mail and carrying to