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Show s, ,A uk I i f f ; fci S l.v V V , x Jjarwpa , i. t t ,?i V Srfounq ' ' fi ii&tffyl.W i ?.r - Vv4ftC ;j! NLdosePh Smith vi w r ' s ( i s t .! , , i 1 XN v - . N (Br. wWji i Jill - ; , , - The Moron. ik ' x i ! ' i Monument V Mill Cumoran A v J V ' Near Palm4ra,N.Y A W By EUMO SCOTT WATSO. X ) I M r A JULY 21 several thousand people rfe C J S(jgfli ' -r-T r ' 1 Ajil lw V wiU gather In western New York 7 Z,5' -V J J!, LL to witness the nnveilins of a tall U S1 V -il T monument on the summit of a hill KLsSSjjft. " ?- Yfi vSS'r it I near Palmyra. Known locally as ,T J. XVV5 -J fsJb ' "t V Mormon hill, it Is officially called ferai fef t i?sw' X v4 Vf fflSjffiTiN -Klhvl st HiU Cumorah by members of the V .fe r "ftM U Z Church of Jesus Christ of Latter t W'-' ' J . i' t i-lx Da, Saints and venerated by them F lf W Tll 1 -K i place where the Angel Moroni gave to r- C. jf-)X-&J V ' ' ;1 Smith, the first prophet of the church, tsT- , v5 ii ' ? - :;n plates from which he translated the Vl X(t-v Xf NS" 5 Ji-1 -5 1 3-Mormoa - . . . t V- rdlDg to Mormon history, the Angel Mo- Xf-P Jfi?' L- ' i -; heavenly personage who lived on the v " ll" ft- -a continent centuries ago and who was -. - I h' ' 1 jT writer of the Book of Mormon, met V-' is:i x. j l U , n , Smith on this hill once each year for -SZiZ. Westward DLJ nana-Lart i" wis before entrusting him with the cus- t! ibe gold plates hidden therein. A sub- y By ELMO SCOTT WATSON P A' JULY 21 several thousand people 'w V will gather In western New York ipJL t0 ff'tness e onveiling of a tall monument on the summit of a hill I near Palmyra. Known locally as v Mormon hill, it Is officially called S 1 Hill Cumorah by members of the n1! Church of Jesus Christ of Latter jL. Da, Saints and venerated by them '"i ie place where the Angel Moroni gave to -;1 Smith, the first prophet of the church, :;!'fn plates from which he translated the 3it!Mcrmoa - . riiDg to Mormon history, the Angel Mo--! heavenly personage who lived on the "" " :-:n continent centuries ago and who was jT writer of the Book of Mormon, met j's' Smith on this hill once each year for i" wis before entrusting him with the cus- t! ibe gold plates hidden therein. A sub- a ippearance of the angel was made to Cowdery, Martin Harris and David Whit-faring Whit-faring which he showed the golden plates -a and bore witness that the translation l !iom them was correct. They were again i "lo eight witnesses who received the mes-a mes-a t truthfulness by Inspiration. a tie monument Is unveiled there will be '1 at the top of a 40-foot granite shaft :foot sculptured figure of the Angel i, bearing the plates In his left arm and ;i iloft his right arm as a signal to the t the message contained in the gold been returned to the modern world, -i tase of the monument will be four r i 3 :'jbow the boy, Joseph Smith, recelv-xki! recelv-xki! ' fttes from the angel. A second will rw scene of the three witnesses viewing Hi the hands ot the sel A third ntij eight witnesses receiving a testl-loci testl-loci ning the plates, and the fourth will Idiei e exhortation of Moroni found in the Swoon. :!etliree-day fete, of which the mon- "" ;4m 18 " Part ls a celebrat'n by , &e Mormon church to mark '--Zv whlch they regard as the "Mt. World U 18 of Interest to all i .iise this hill In western New "" C ,!8tartins pIace of a migration ' 'j T ?ereal eP'cs la history of j' ' o'g. Especially la tht, tn f I J I o'Tt"16 marCQ acrS3 the Great - UoJ the Talley 0t the Great V ;'rlte c,rEanl:MlU'n of the church in '-W eca eounty. New York, a ::, CI .D ln Klrtland, Ohio, and as sf Wf0r0.S!l!her there ln larse nura- lf ;: ictiriH 6 the headquarters of 3 A prIntlnS had , lit mercantile house opened . the building of a temple had fhe expansion of the of J'1" vlo,ent opposition from ''ilttew T K'lous faiths and it A 'om h fronSer. The printing press 1 PU"ed (lown a"d the ;:.; :o( thB wScaUered in the streets. 4 :? aDd w?0113 were driven from :iUl and 1 MlssorI, to which F " ' th. ' the "ormon elders n,lliechurneha?tlme and established The ref,T Jaeksn county and IwitT? from 0hl oettlel In U SainTe' wealth. But opposi-, opposi-, h when they & hoSSJ0,.' Dew locaUon oa i !oNat " d,WeU county. sNttiS fUnd no 'est. Cov-5 Cov-5 r ?,orCfr 1 f?r the extermina- tT l l free rePbllc of ' rC? 0f Persecution, K JHZ l from "Ir homes ' ey ln?r the Mississippi fiSiC bUShed th6 Clty of rpPulaoa of lmaola proyed no more tolerant than had the people of New York, Ohio and Missouri. Persecution of the newcomers continued and after a series of arrests ar-rests and acquittals, Joseph Smith was finally taken in custody on a charge of treason. While awaiting trial on the charge the Mormon leader, with his brother, Hyrum, and two others, were lodged in the jail at Carthage. There, despite a pledge from Governor Ford that state troops would protect them, they were dragged out of the jail by a mob on June 27, 1S44, and the two Smiths were shot to death. The Illinois legislature next annulled the Nau-voo Nau-voo city charter and again the Mormons were homeless. Brlgham Young had succeeded Joseph Smith and he and the other Mormon leaders made a proposition that If their persecutors would cease their acts of violence and aid the Mormons in disposing of their property they would remove from the state. This proposition was accepted and the Mormons contracted for several thousand wagons and began making preparations for a move to California or Oregon in the early spring. But it was not until February, 1846, that Young and the other Mormon leaders guided about 1,000 of their people across the frozen surface of the Mississippi and headed west. This company com-pany reached Council Bluffs, Neb., on the west side of the Missouri river and near there erected 700 cabins at a place called Winter Quarters. In April, 1S47, Young, with a chosen band of 143 pioneers, left Winter Quarters and began their journey westward In search of a place where the Mormons might make a home on soil to which the sovereignty of the United States did not extend. But if he had hoped to find that place ln California he was doomed to disappointment. disap-pointment. For even as he was Journeying west, the Mexican war broke out, California was seized by the Americans and at the end of the war the next year the great empire of the West from the Missouri to the Pacific was under the Stars and Stripes. On July 24, 1847, Young and his pioneers reached the valley of the Great Salt lake Look-Ins Look-Ins out over this valley from the summit of Big mountain, the Mormon leader declared s.mply: "This Is the place." The wanderers had reached their Chosen Land. That fall 700 wagons bear-ing bear-ing Mormon families arrived ln the valley. In the same autumn Brlgham Young set out for Winter Quarters again and came back the following : year with about 100 wagons laden with more families and supplies. , - tll The opening of 184S saw the beginning of the grea miration. "The American frontier never beheld a movement quite like that of the , Mor-mons," Mor-mons," says a recent historian. Dr ng he spring and summer of that year nearly all of the sits who had gathered t Winter Quarters and other places along the frontier set out n nlnV until more than 0,000 had reached Utah By ?he fail of 1852 this flood of migration had mounted to more than 20,000. a march out of Despair to a destination unresponsive breast of the iWHt t of The Utah pioneers had been ' tossea civilization Into the wilderness and on the gate of that civilization a flaming sword of hate had been forged, which was turned every way against the refugees. All ties of the past had been sundered. They were so poor that their utmost hope was to secure the merest necessities necessi-ties of life. If ever a dream of anything like comfort or luxuries came to them, they made a grave In their hearts for that dream and buried it that It might no longer vex them. Such was their condition as they took up their western march. . . . Included In the story of the Mormon migration migra-tion Is the story of the "handcart pioneers" who ln the 50s walked the 1,300 miles over prairies and mountains, pulling or pushing handcarts piled high with their belongings. "The story of this pilgrimage Is as remarkable a record of pioneer suffering as the story of the ill-fated Donner party or the Jayhawkers of Kansas who went through Death valley, yet It has received scant' attention from Western historians," says one writer. And another declares: "There is no more dramatic chapter in history than that telling tell-ing of the march of these pioneers. No story ls filled with more heroism, pathos and loyalty and devotion to a cause than Is that journey." After the main bodies of the Mormons had made their way to Utah and had drained the Middle West of virtually all Its horses and oxen to pull their wagons, there were still others determined de-termined to go. Especially was this true of English Eng-lish and other European emigrants who had become be-come converts to the Mormon faith. The first of these handcart companies, led by Edmund Ellsworth and DanlelJ). McArthur, leit Iowa City, Iowa, then the Mormon outfitting post, early ln June, 1S56, and reached Utah late ln September. Each had about 500 people with 100 handcarts, five wagons, 24 oxen, four mules and 25 tents. The third, led by Edward Bunker, left late In June and arrived in October. Despite some deaths among the aged and sickly, the majority of the emigrants reached their destination destina-tion safely. But not so fortunate were the companies led by James G. Willie and Edward Martin which set out from Iowa In July and August. For winter win-ter set In early and they were soon beset by storms. It was too late to turn back and the journey toward the Rockies became more and more a trail of misery. Hearing of the plight of the emigrants, Brlgham Toung organized a rescuing expedition which set out with food, bedding bed-ding and medicines to help them over the roughest rough-est "part of their journey, that of crossing the mountains. The full story of these and other pioneers In the great Mormon migration yet remains to be written. Survival of the religious prejudice and the Intolerance which marked the era In which the Mormon church was founded has blinded many Americans to the heroic qualities of these people and the magnitude of their achievement in transforming a desert Into a prosperous commonwealth. com-monwealth. But to anyone who thinks of them as American pioneers, rather than as members of a religious sect, these words of Judge Goodwin Good-win cannot seem inappropriate "They wore out their lives In toIL They suffered without plaint. From nothing they created a glorified state. Honor and reverence and glory everlasting be theirs." . e Western Newspaper Union. |