| Show VISIT TO PUEBLO INDE independence PF CH CARTHAGE nauvoo NAUVO 0 w RICHMOND ETC AX AN INTENSELY I 1 SKETCH al A SALT laer laen CITY june 1883 1885 E editor di 1 lor dor deseret nearly forty years ago joseph william richards seventeen sev sex entee n years of age was iv as mustered into the mormon battalion at council bluffs ile he was enrolled asa as a drummer boy in company A under captain jefferson hunton hunt on the jath day of jul jui july 1816 alter some months of fatiguing service too arduous 1 for his youthful youth tui tul fraine frame he was seized with a mortal illness and was reft eit eft wl with th other sick of that devoted band atthe at the old stockade of pueblo in colorado in lu tiie tile chilling month of november he died and was buried with several of his dead coin coln comrades rades a distance from the fort his last was drawn while he lay in the iris liis ims of brother caratat rowe who ad ind nursed him NN i th all ail the care and fidelity of a brothers love this veteran of the mexican war caratat rowe now lives at mount pleasant county from his bis kindly hands I 1 received a plan of the lonely i cemetery in the desert where my young youn brother and ills his loyal compatriots were e interred for several years I 1 have been possessed of a very strong desire to visit this locality and make an ellort to find lind the thc spot sanctified by the dust of our dead heroes having been counseled and encouraged in the plan by president taylor I 1 determined to take the necessary journe journey and if any trace of the graves could be te found to designate and protect the spot in some appropriate way in pursuance of this project with my son charles I 1 took passage from salt sall lake on the ath of may last via the denver and rio grande rail kail been courteously f furnished arnt shed the necess necessary ary arv transportation by politeness of agent S W eccles esq rocey ROCKY MOUNTAIN SCENERY it has been baen iny my fortu fortune tle tie in the providence of the almighty to traverse a goodly go odly portion of this country and some parts of europe which are world ivorid famed for line tine scenery but I 1 have long becil been of the opinion that our own rocky mountain region is unsurpassed for variety ty and sublimity this feeling of admi admiration tation for the tile mountains valleys and waters of tue the great west was intensified upon my recent trip the grand canon canton of the At arkansas kansas the black canon canton and the tile royal noyal gorge are appalling in their grandeur the tha sensation of rapid raid travel among these mighty works of nature Is delightful and awe inspiring we were whirled at the rate of f forty arti miles an hour by the side of brawling torrents beneath perpendicular or overhanging cliffs the tors tops of which were cloud rests around dizzy passes and across stupendous chasms all the time our train was laboring upon its sinuous upward track or gliding swiftly oly ely downward upon its gindin winding way in all this mountain travel there seemed to be no level stretch and scarcely a tangent upon which the tha train could stand at its full lull length Pt ESTING RESTING PLACE OF THE REMAINS OF THE BATTALION BOYS we reached pueblo on the evening of the loth and sought information upon the subject of codr our visit from the oldest settlers in the place we met with courteous treatment from judge smith from a member of the state legislature and from other prominent gentlemen and secured the services of dij sir lewis C conley 0 nley who had lived in this locality ab about on t forty years when I 1 showed him the plan furnished to me by elder rowe ilowe be he was astounded at its accuracy and extent from mr air conleys colleys Con leys recollection and the draft which we carried with us we made a most diligent search we spared nothing which could assist us in the effort to nind rind the burial place of our dead but without avail every trace was obliterated the earthly tabernacles of our friends had been deposited in the sound of the never ceasing arkansas thrice during the lon ion long iong interval 0 of f time which has elapsed since that melancholy event the turbulent river has inundated the surrounding country each time completely cham chaw changing ging its channel chanuel and has carried away upon its raging bosom the tha habitations ot of death and of life no hillock of any kind now mark marks the last resting place of the battalion boys who died at pueblo in later years when settlers came into the region they interred their dead out of the reach of the waters upon a lil ill high h bluff overlooking the old fort still later when the present town to wn began to extend itself the huma human remains were exhumed and rem removed oved from this rude graveyard and carried to a new cemetery where they could not hot obstruct the onward march of the town but we could not learn that any bodies had ever been taken up f from roul the river ricer bottom but even after receiving positive assurance that the graves we sought had been swept away or covered up tip bythe by athe Arkan arkansas sas Ras we continued conr search and buado enado a earea careful ua examination of tle the new place of interment the tho only result of this extra effort was to fully satisfy us thal that we had done everything in the matter which could be de accomplished and our final conclusion was that though we could tell within a comparatively short distance of the spot where our brethren had been laid to rest we could not designate it with sufficient accuracy for any practical use being disappointed in this labor of bf duteous love we were compelled to depart from f rom the town leaving only a prayer upon the field which to us was sacred revisited we visited denver manitou springs cave of the winds glen eyre and the garden of the gods in colorado and found much to instruct and entertain on the uit we took train at colorado springs for kansas city missouri at which latter we arrived on the evening 0 the day following in crossing the centennial C en tennial state we found it looking more bare than is usual in our valleys at home and the season seemed late and cold the toe cattle were numerous but they looked very lean kansas city now enjoys but little river trade as nearly all ail alithe the traffic is left to the tile railroads but it is a very enterprising place laving having immense stock interests there are three immense sia sla slaughter tighter houses in the town one of which has a capacity of killing and d dressing oooo arli alli animals mals mais p per ar day the numerous stock yards in the vicinity of the railroad lines contained thousands of cattle of all kinds this city is a vast receptacle for the immense herds of stock which are sent east from the western terri terni territories tories tortes THE PLACE OF THE TEMPLE shortly aften after our arrival ival at kansas hansas city we were made acquainted with mr air william epperson vilo v h savu save us the pleasure of an introduction homr to lir sir archibald means rodgers rod Kod gers whose dwell dwelling ing lug place is near to the town of independence in jackson county missouri this latter city elty was our next destination and when we reached it on the loth luth uit we were met by mr rodgers who carried us about with his bis vehicle to view the sl sights ats of the locality among many noted things we were shown the outlaw frank james whose deeds of violence have made his name a household dread throughout the states of missouri and kentucky kansas and iowa this tills county of jackson claims to have more and better thoroughbred stock deock than any other district of missouri and missouri asserts that she is not behind any other state in these respects the residents take great pride in showing their jine flue animals to strangers around this point stretches a goodly laud land which smiles to heaven in its plenty this region so far as its natural facilities are concerned is above all other places choice and precious here flere we saw the spot designated by the finger of almighty god as the place where a temple should be built unto his name it is a beautiful enclosure closure bear beat bearing bearing hearing ing a luxuriant crop of grass and surrounded rounded sur hur by shade trees which have been recently planted but there i no building of any kind upon it the popular sentiment is that should any private or commercial edifice be placed there omnipotence would punish the sacrilege by the destruction st of the desecrating dese crating structure appear to be settling sett hett lins here in considerable numbers they have secured a title to the temple lot rhe the title to this temple block was awarded to them by a decree of court and has been vested in a board of trustees these followers of the deceived son of the immortal prophet appear to meet with great favor in this section of missouri this is ve very ry natural for in the beginning of this bogus organization the new leader announced that he lie would bould not prout promulgate any principle as a revelation which the people would object to of course the des design n was to build bu ild iid u up P a sect that won would n not ot meet w with t h t the 0 opposition which the church of christ had encountered under und erthe the leadership of the martyred marty red prophet popularity was and is still sought for and some of their members with wit great pleasure and evident satisfaction the favor with which they and their doctrines are received the josephites at independence are ape ailed mormons cormons and the sharp sighted mcula speculators tors of that neighborhood knowing no vin how attractive salt lake city has been begs to tourists hope by the means of this people and their labors to make independence a place of interest to the traveler a hope which need not say will never be realized through such agencies there are promises made by the lord concerning independence but no people however zealous and however determined they may be to possess these promises can ever accomplish that work unless the they are the people whom ile he has chosen and whom lie ile recognizes as his AT CHICAGO from this town of independence so full of vital interest for us we departed for chicago which we reached 0 on u the afternoon of the this bein being sunday we nye devoted ourselves to reading the news from home and returning messages es on oil the day following in we points of interest we ascended the tower of the immense waterworks water works to a hight of feet we visited the huge exposition building in which grant garfield arthur blaine and cleveland were nominated it is now used as an art gallery and for fon concerts and similar entertainments we were deeply interested u te in the mammoth grain elevators of this creat great wheat center beuter we were shown through one called the G galena elevator which has ilas a capacity of bushels from this elevator in ten hours bushels of wheat can be transferred to a ship sixteen men can unload eight cars containing bushels can weigh the grain and deposit it in bins all within the space of alf fifteen teen minutes its costeas cost was nearly half a million of dollars chicago has seventeen of these structures one of which can contain 15 bushels we called at the city hall and cou court rt house a grey granite pile covering an entire block and slid possessed of considerable architectural grace within it we visited eight courts in simultaneous session we were shown through tile the office of the recorder of cook county here in an immense vault we saw 1680 volumes of records with 90 in bexes ali all of which have been filled since the tire fire of 1870 at which time the records up to that date were completely destroyed we were informed that at present the recorder is filling an average of one ona volume per day C OP OF THE TILE MARTYRDOM GRAPHIC description OF IT on the noon of tuesday the we left for jacksonville miles from Chica chicago goi wot and the next morning we reached rea caz carthage in hancock county it was to this point that our thoughts had long tended and the moment that we reached the town we sought out the historical lali jail it Is now occupied as a dwelling house by james browning MB al a respectable and courteous man who has in his time held tile the office of county treasurer to today dav day it seems a place of peace to the casual casull observer it would possess not even a passing interest batto butto but to us who held the knowle knowledge cip of the mighty events which had transpired wit within in its walls walla of the dark cloud of sin which had rested upon it 14 and of the mighty martyrdom which had cried ried aloud to heaven ana an j I 1 the thy ages from f rom its bullet torn frame f there was something so impressive in its every stone that our hearts were filled with sole in 1 I our eyes with tears we went into the room which had been the prison place of gods servants auts previous to the murderous attack we stood upon the selfsame self same floor which was trodden by the feet of joseph and hyrum and john taylor and willard richards on that cruel day of slaughter we saw the hole in the door made by the bullet which gave pave hyrum his mortal wound we bowed over the spot where be he fell exclaiming 1 I am aut a dead man 11 with chasteney chastened chast ened feelings we stood at the doorframe door frame and recalled now how president taylor had bad interposed his ilia body between the prophet and lil ill his I 1 bloodthirsty assailant sand how hovy he tic had bad struggled to beat back the guns guris of the mu murderers while db dl a torrent of flames and leadie leaned from that famous window from which the prophet jumped arfell or fell feil anufrom and from which president taylor traylor was thrown wounded and stricken and tossed nack back by that providential bullet which struck his watch shattered it a and 1 ud cast him libil upon the floor we thought of this wonderful woud erful interposition of almighty power which saved his life for lor the tho great purposes which god has since acc abc accomplished through him hlin I 1 and which are yet in store we retraced our steps down that tragic stairway which nad bad once been crowded with devils in human form andson and sought ht the well where joseph smith the prophet of god ended his earthly career but it ita isa b now tilled filled up the is gaily easily discernable discernible discern able it is now a da dainty ty dlower flower ower bed bearing masses of pure and fragrant f ra 1 raut rant blossoms blosso ins it was sweet losee see the spot so hallowed this r round ground where Joseph lay stretched in death when the fiend with a knife to sever ulie the head from f roin his body and was stopped by a flash of lightning from the heavens with the remembrance of all these things upon us recalling the blankness bla blas kness ss of that hour the woes boes of our subsequent wrongs and then looking at the wondrous condition of the church tod today to d day ays we were lost in a wilderness of emotions there was much sadness in this visit and the memories which it called forth but there was a compensating sensation of triumph in the thought of powerlessness of mankind even though calling murder and rapine to their ald aid to war successfully sf ully against the cause which has within itself the seeds of divine progress A man named edward Matthews who keeps a livery stable in the town of carthage Cart caro hace haze carried us on the afternoon of wednesday the uit tw twenty enty miles to Nauvoo on this little journey we ive passed over the general route 0 on u which joseph and hyrum and their thel r company last rode in the life of the prophet and patriarch and upon which that solemn and woeful funeral returned the only changes which have been made f from rom the original route are those occasioned by the laying off of the road upon section or quarter section lines but its usual direction is the |
