| Show 0 F O R TY YEARS IN ZION ct REMINISCENCES IN JOHN SALT H LAKE MILIEIVS TWENTYSEVEN OP INTERESTING EARLY DAYS YEARS WITH THE TRIBUNE L The retirement of John H Miller Sr I from the circulation department of The Tribune iuJter ft continuous service of twentyfievcn years gives rise to many Interesting I reminiscences The slni > < fe story of Mr 1 Millers courageous lljfc Is full of the deepest Interest Its recital ut ihls time will give tin idea of what lrnc pioneers had to cniliuc especially those Who were not in complete harmony har-mony With this head uC the dominant church The story of vir Millers life nnd experiences Is l best told in his own WOIcI JMy mother Mr Miller said was n stiong Mormon She embraced the faith at our aid home In England This vas lien I wns a youns child 1 be uame a Mormon ny no process of reasoning r rea-soning but natuitiHy drifted inlo the I church with iry mother i WORKED AS ELDER After T had been in the church for t n I number of jeiiJJ T was cnllecl upon to go preaotihis Mormorlsm as a traveling trav-eling oldfi tluoughout t Hnglnnd For 1ourt years I folloived l this calling I wont Nvlhout tmrfce or scrip T Had just what the peopJs gave me and often my r oloUoe were rasped Jind my Shoes oltt I I nl the toes In my rounds a 8 a traveling elder I was ncuunipnnlcil a good part of the time by i ncpf Inrus W Hoars of Salt Lake ind Gcoise Webb ofLohi Since comIng com-Ing to lllnh both of these men have been in the Legislature and t presume that if I r I had remained 1 In the church I nnd moved out intn thi4 country T nhi7it have been K legislator myself l STARTS FOli UTAH In lCnulalrl L wns In the Norwich t Von CHOP 1 tin inv best I lo t convert the people to Mbrmonlsm but Ifear Thy miccCFtf VMS not great I lind lit llt chance br gottlitf nn education in I the old country nn T Imrt to work fiom > > nrlijcc i in the ivorninsr illl G oclock In the evening 1 attended night school rtiicl ijot un at > mill I 1 oclock In the snorrlng to got my lersons In ISO I I ua fplenftfnl from my work as mls nknary in the Norwich conference to i ome to t Utah t cams alone as my mother ami myself were the only members F mem-bers of the family who united with the Mormon church nnd my mother remained re-mained nt I the old home in England r LTNGUISTIO DEAr WITH BECK I cal i over from Liverpool to New r York on ihd sailing vessel l Hudson Onboard On-board tlUrc were 1000 Mormon emi I rtiants r J6ln Beck was of the number nr was also PrdC Carelcijs r remember remem-ber ilia I John Beck and I made a deal r lie could not speak English and I could hot sneak German I agreed to teach him English and he acrced to teach nift German but unfortunately r for me I became so busy that I could not carry out the contract I had harge df orti ward on the ship and I had eharee also of all the lost properly I proper-ly I You may be pure that with 1000 k men warnen and children crowded into I in-to one vessel this save me iJlenty to r do I J1KACHKD AME11ICA I 4y arrived In Castle Garden were aken uri the Hudson and out to Buffalo Buf-falo on a vessel At Buffalo we took train for Pi Joe Mo l and there AVC t t look steamer for a small place called Vyoming near Nebraska City There our prlrty wan dildod into two com k panlts one under l Capt Hyde and the f other under Cain Snow The balance of the trip from Wyoming Wyo-ming to Salt Lake wari made with ox loams anil three whole months were Oonsiiflfed In crossing the plains There was great fcufferlmr during this part oC < the trio Theie Was lack of food I Ji CUr went to Si 1 a pound O eosloll tlly we Vuuld StOP at a ranch nnd get Yeah bfecf Invariably this made us sick as we would go for weeks without V fresh mca and would cat too heartily f of It when We did pet it I MANY DIE OX TRIP The trip across the plains was such f ii hard one there was JoO much exposure ex-posure and the trip ran so late Into the reason that over 100 persons died between be-tween tlu time we left l TCnglaml till our arrivaljn Salt Lake Those who died weie mostly children or old people who were not strong enough to stand the rlgoiK of roughing1 It on the plains As for me I enjoyed the outdoor life and thrived on it We encountered heavy snow in the Blabk hills and were forced to camp In the snow on more occasions than one 1 At these times the future seemed dark I Many in the company had left good i homes and bcInt deprived of all cornS forts faded away and died S 1 MARRIED ON PLAINS I married my wlf on the plains two weeks out from Salt Lake We became engaged on the way over hut did not Intend to marry Clii after our arrival In Salt Lake My wife tone Strona S Barnetl a young girl at that time On the trip her mother sister niece and sisterinlaw all died She was left with no one to care for Her or the i S little property falling to her and In order or-der to secure authority to care for her We were married f remember one little incident ot the trip as though it happened yester day CroJs rig tho Platte river at JulfsVurg ve had o put twenty yoke of oxen to each wagon to pull It aCrosn Wc had to ride on tIle backs of the oxen I wan riding one of them when one at my toes not caught in one Qf th < i links of the ofc chain I had my choldft of having 1 my toe broken or tumbling off Into the riverS I tumbled and It f was the dcdpost part of the ford tlJI Our tram was loaded entirely too heavily with merchandise This was why we were to long In making the trip and this was why we were HO hort of food When w < 2 anfved in Salt Luke November1 5 1801 mar was 51 1 a pound flour VIH 21 a hundred woight tea was G a pound molasses was 33 i a gallon potatoes were a bushel and other things wen proportionately high t There wa but one place in the city at I Ii that time where beer was sold and It I I was home brewed btor at that DRIFTED AWAY FROM CHURCH It would be Impossible for me to I ray Just when I Irft the Moirnon phurch T was not n Mormon when I landed In Suit Lake As I grew aide I began to reason many questions arose l H I j Vv VjyV11 i vya n i < s r i J t3 ii I if m < 3 it Ii t i f mL 4 < 1 t I ii 9 F4j fffli I Iv < > t K7 Sri if i fyZ f ZS rVJ Lhi1 H Miller in i my mind that no one seemed able to answer there were many things I could not understand and I gradually reasoned myself out of the church I After We reached Salt Lake as it had heroine known that I was weak in the fultli efforts were made to gel me back Into line W C Dunbar who became1 i my friend would flay to me John why dont you come to tho meetings 4j cant believe in the doctrine I would answer Well Dunbar would say there arc many things that I cannot believe but III he main the ddctrine is true I drifted entirely away from the church I tried net to antagonize the authorities and I remained as organist ao of the Twentyfirst ward for eight years after I had Severxd my connection connec-tion I with the church I did not believe in l i Mormonlsm but I did not quarrel with the people MANY HARD TEARS Finally the end came T was cited to appear before Bishop Andrew Burl to answer to the chaise of apostasy I refused to appear mid remained away Then 1 was ofllclally cut off They notified i me of what had been done and it told t me that hey were sorry to lose me but I told them I did not believe in i their doctrine and could not con Fclentlflusly build up a church against which my reason and judgment rebelled re-belled S After this I hail u hard time of it for years In England my trade was that of envelope maker but there was no work of that kind to be had In Salt Lake No one offered me work oC any kind I had to hustle for myself and lo b whatcer I could find to do The first two winters I cut wood up in the illls l around City Creek canyon Coal wan out of the question All that came to the city had to be hauled from Coal rllle by wagon and it cost 10 a ton on the streets of Salt Lake ONETHIRD TOLL REQUIRED The plan of getting wood up City Creek canyon wns peculiar l > In the fIrst place Brigham Young laid claim to the entire canyon There were two gates through which all must tfrtss to inter I the domain One was the Eagle Gate and the other was the inner gate at the mouth of the canyon about where the EmeryHolmes flats now stand Iherc WitS a gatekeeper at the inner gate and he took onulhlrd of every load of wood that came down out of the canyon This was Brigham Youngs toll If the teamster was not well Imon to the gatekeeper he had to unload un-load onethird of his wood before he was permitted to pass out through the gate Tf lie were wellknown to the ijatckeeper and could be trusted he was permitted to pay every third load as toll Brigham Young had a great wood I yard just inside the Inner gate with a circular saw run by the waters oC City creek There the toll wodd was cut up into stove lengths and after that It was distributed among the presidents numerous nu-merous families He had several wives at the See Hive two at the Young I farm and two more at his farm at Forest For-est Dale ONE LONG DAYS WORK These gates were always shut and locked just before dark I remember well one day I hired a team and went up after a load of logs It begun be-gun to rain early In the morning and poured all day long But I was gamer game-r went ahead and got my load but because be-cause of the rain and the heavy and slippery roads It was late when I got back I found the inner gate locked for the night I had to leave ray horses shivering In the pelting rain climb over the high board gate and get to the Bee Hive to find the gatekeeper There I found that ho had gone to the Theater I followed him to the Theater The-ater routed him out had him get his keys and open the gate that J might get out It was after midnight when I finished my days work The first two winters T was In Salt Lake 1 cut logs in City Creole canyon 1 had no loam but r would take enough grub to last a week go up into the mountains above the canyon cut down the trees cut them up Into logs nd shoot them down the hillsides into thc th-c n Jn There they were taken by l lcamitcr and hauled to the t city after paying the Brlgham Young toll at the gates MANNER OF GETTING WOOD After cutting down a tree we would cut it into IcnglhH of ton or twelve feet Then we would point one end of it and start It down the Jiill on the snow It Would go down like a streak or lightning and we would yell like demons de-mons to warn anyone Who might becoming be-coming up the slide There were forty of us working up In the mountains and Leach L-each one would put a private mark on I hlH logn to enable him to settle with the teamsters below This was slow 1 work audi It was a hard way to get stove wood but it was the beat the people could do In those early days II Brighanl Young made lots oC money out of the enterprise because onethird o f all the men and horses in the canyon can-yon were Working for him He had plenty of wood to sell In addition to Ps supplying all his families WORKED ON BRIGHAMS FARM In the spring and summer of the first years In Sail Lake I went out on the t cast bench and quarried red sandstone sand-stone I 1 would dig out the stone and sell it to the teamsters They would haul It down into the city and there it would he used for foundations for houses h and stores There l is plenty of this stone In the city yet I alno worked for a time on Brigham Youngs farm at Forest Dale This was always considered rp treat as they lived high a I t the farm and we always had plenty to cat I became very well acquainted with Brigham and never had any personal per-sonal diniculty with him MOULDING ADOBES Oar also tried my bond at making adobes This I did where Popperton now is There was a good bed of clay there We would puddle the clay S then mould It I t each mould holding two I adobes and these we would lay out in the sun to dry We got as high asa 12 as-a thousand for these adobes and I got so that I could make as many as 500 In i a day but I could not keel It up It was awfully hard work BUSSED ANNUAL ENCAMPMENT Because T was out of the church I S was compelled to find my own jobs and for this reason I Was forced to turn my hand to many different kinds of work I raised potatoes and sorghum where the Country clubhouse now stands I I r remember one fall I was working hard I and my cane was Just ready to he cut and ground up Into molasses when I I L was called to join the militia in the regular annual I roundup Each year all the ablebodied men from all ovei the Territory were called to meet in camp across the Jordan for n weeks 5 drill ft WHS a fine sight and usually stirred up great enthusiasm I refused re-fused to go for the reason that by so doing T would lose my crop of sorghum I was coUrlmartialcd and fined 1 I have not yet paid the fine TRADED BOOTS FOR LAND In those early days I had a legal I fight with Brlghnm Young I was per I haps the first and one of the very few who got the best of the man who dominated dom-inated I everything the courts Included There was a man named Hcidsman who had located on a lot 10x10 rods in extent at the present l > corner of Second and M streets He grew tired of the dominant church and wished to jjo to California 1 met him one day and asked him what he would take for Slot S-lot a Ill sell It to you he said for wha I the digging of the hole on it cost me I had no money but I had a pair of boots that I had bought secondham 1 for li soon after my arrival In Salt Lake T told him I would give him the boots for his lot and he took me up I think I paid him a little money besides I but It was not much and I dont remem her now how much We had to go I along without money in those days and 1 If you wanted anything a copper kettle for Instance you had to hustle around and get what the owner of the kettle was willing to trade it for LAWSUIT FOR HOME Well when the Government threw all the land above the city upon the market I filed upon my lot All ou t beyond that and all around It for Lila matter was cattle range Brlgham Young claimed the whole business He and three others filed upon my lot besides J be-sides myself I took the matter Into court It came up before Judge gila i Smith and I naturally supposed the decision would be in favor of Brighan Young but T did not propose to lie down till I was whipped I had bulla bull-a fence about the place and plantec trees upon It To my very great surprise sur-prise the Judge decided in my favor L He held that as I had improved the ground I had he best claim to it Afterward the Judge met me and seemed anxious to explain i explalnwlmy he dc i elded as he did He said to me 1 suppose you thought I would give tha lot to Brigham Young hut I vas satis tIed you had the best right to it I can easily imagine how often he explained ex-plained his decision to Brigham Tho I decision In my case was the exception All the others had to pay Brighan Young 5200 each for their lots TROUBLE OVER BOTCHER SHOPS Another little Incident elll comes to nu mind as showing how the Mormons wore compelled to ostracise the sand s-and trade only with their own people The only moat market In the city was run in the middle of the street betwce where McCornlcks and the Utah Na tional banks arc located Everybody had lo go there for his meat and no one was permitted to sell meat anywhere else There were two Gentile butchers In the markcl 1 These were Hepworth and Popper I whom fill the old settlers will remember A policeman was stationed outside the market and his chief html ness was to warn the Mormon people against buying meat from Popper and Hupworth 1 always bought of either one or the other more to show my ndopendence oC the church than for any other reason One day as I passed nit the policeman caught me by tho shoulder and informed me that Popper and Ilupworth were not our people uul that I should be careful and not mrchase from them in the future I old him that I proposed to buy my mea 1 wherever I pleased and that no church nor policeman could dictate tone to-ne where I should do my trading After Af-ter that I was not Interfered with The i credit of breaking this monopoly must be given to P II Lannan He was the tllt man to defy the church authorities au-thorities and establish a butcher shop outside the regular market It was a brave thine to do under the circumstances circum-stances but Mr Lannan did it and he made it win ENTERS NEWSPAPER FIELD S J was never very robust and Was anxious to learn another trade as I saw that I would never gel work in Salt Lake at my old trade of envelope maker mak-er So when the Vedette was started by i Gen Connor at Fort Douglas along about the close of the civil war I applied < ap-plied for the Job of circulating the paper pa-per and got It This was my first experience ex-perience in work of this kind My Idea was to learn the printers trade hi connection with the work of clrcu laSting The Vedette was a redhot antiMormon paper It was bittqrly I opposed l and never sedured a large circulation cir-culation Soon after It started the plant was moved from the fort down Into the city I started in as circulator and had two carriers under me I was Just getting started on the trade of type setter when the Vedette kicked the bucket My next newspaper experience Was with the Telegraph started by Sten house soon after the death of the Ve dette I was not the circulator for this paper but carried a route The life i of this paper was short and the general impression at that time was that It was killed through the influence of Brigham Young Stenhousc was sent to Ogden to be got out of the way of the president who considered him troublesome The next newspaper venture with which I was connected was the Herald Her-ald It was started about thirtytwo years ago In a little shack on the ground now occupied by l the Constitution Constitu-tion building on Main street The J founders wore John T Caluc W C Dunbar and II L Sloan It I was started as a Mormon dally Dunbar sent for me to arrange the routes for the paper I carried the entire first edition of the paper A funny thing about the Herald in those days was that the morning paper was always got out the evening before That t Is I say the Saturday morning paper would be I printed early the evening before and would be distributed among the business busi-ness houses Friday evening between 8 and 9 oclock before the business houses were closed for the night I had entire en-tire ohargo of the circulation of the Herald for some time It lust be re memberdd that t there t were no railroads running into Salt Lake at that time and no telegraph lines The outside news was largely clipped from other papers and was very old before it reached the readers of the paper TRIBUNES EARLY DAYS From time Herald I naturally drifted to The Tribune For a time I had charge of the circulation o both but I Illicitly realized that The Tribune was the coming paper and as its principles Kuited me best I cut loose from the Herald altogether and confined my work entirely to the circulation of The Tribune This was In 1S7G the year of the HayesTildcn campaign twenty seven years ago The circulation of The Tribune at that time was but GOO and but four or five carriers were employed em-ployed The paper was unpopular as It was outspoken against the domination domina-tion of the church There were many who did not care to be caught reading I the paper The managers at that time were Prescott Reed Hamilton Taylor and Shupbach Myself and another young man bought the entire circulation circula-tion paying l bonus of 1200 for It After that ue would take the entire issue Is-sue of the paper and circulate It I never had any serious trouble about the paper although we all realized that there was bitter opposition to it In the community T remained with the paper pa-per through all Its changes from that time to this Mr Lannan lme l1 and I were good friends and during all the time he managed the paper I was never missing from my post of duty I have seen the paper grow from aol weakling a-ol tWO circulation to the most Influential Influen-tial organ of public opinion in all the West I have seen the city grow from a straggling community half country half town to a modern city one of the most beautiful In lid country I have seen prejudice and fanaticism dispeller by the onward march of education and civilization lonWILL WILL REST NOW I have worked hard all my life and now I feel that I am entitled to lake It easy I i have a little fruit farm oC five acres Just below Calders park welt set In fruit trees and bushes There I purpose to pass the balance of my life with my wife and children around me My wants are few and they will be largely supplied from the little farm But never till the end do 1 expect to lose Interest in The Tribune with which I have been so closely identified l dur ing twentyseven of the best years of my life Mr Miller is now Cl years of age anil is a splondidly preserved man a walk ing testimonial to the virtue of pure living and vigorous outdoor l exercise In all kinds of weather The good wIfe < who ae a young girl on the wild plains of Y Wyoming thirtynine yearn ago united her fortunes with his is still by his side to travel with him down through the declining years Mr Miller has four children all living In Salt Lake They are John H Miller Jr Waller Miller Mrs C D Smith and Miss Blanche who lives with her parents Amid besIdes the wife and children twelve grandchildren have been added to the family gioup The Miller home Is Mier still located on the of 01 patch ground bought years ao for the 5M Pair of boots nd heM against the claim of Brlgham Young Part of the ground has been sold but a neatlittle house Is oil the corner aiu I It Is from this point or vantage that Mr Miller has his seen family his Mier faml paper pa-per his city and his country growing up about him His hosts of friends will hope that very many happy and prosperous pros-perous years may bless the courageous honest enterprising little man before ho is 1 called tQ his fipal l rcwot |
