| Show IN MONTANA AND washington HELENA montana august 1896 just as we were leaving butte city we mailed a correspondence to your paper and set out on the great northern railway for helena montana this route is very picturesque and desirable to the traveler one of the most beautiful vegetable gardens we have seen since leaving U ah we found at the head of the gulch at helena or nearly so where it becomes narrow with some of the old log huts on the hillside near this garden which is cultivated to its highest pitch richly and watered so that it is very attractive abounding in all sorts of fresh vegetables is a brewery on the hill bill side and beer gardens very tastefully arranged with shade trees evergreens ever greens tables chairs walks flowers in variety to entice and ensnare many spiders and lovers ot of sunday revels one of the proprietors said that where these gardens are was once placer houses bouses and gardens followed but said the proprietor if I 1 had all the gold down to the bed rock below these gardens of beer and pleasure I 1 would sell no more beer we found two of the benson brothers jared G and hyrum S sons of the late elder ezra benson who were engaged in the transportation business and are building a large stone warehouse near the northern pacific depot two miles down from the gulch city we took rooms and have hired the G A R hall for sunday and visited governor J E after a pleasant chat with him he gave us letters of introduction tro to the good people of montana he said he should be pleased to ser serve e us while in his state and should he be in in helena at the time ot of our meetings he would attend them we called upon udon the editors of the herald and the independent who promised us notices of our meetings and we took the great northern twenty eight miles out to wolf creek while awaiting our sunday meeting we passed through seven tunnels on con our way from butte to wolf creek two of whichard which chare are over one mile each once more before reaching florence our next move we shall pass through gh and over the rocky mountains which chic h will be four times for us in this we well it named state montana after our visit to wolf creek where there is more missionary work to be done we got no tices cices published in the helena herald the independent gave us about one halt ball column in the sunday morning paper and on monday morning nearly two column sa synopsis of discourse so and the articles of faith this papier goes to thousands ot of readers our success at the capital has been quite satis factory EDWARD STEVENSON M F COWLEY POST FALLS august 1896 leaving the capital city of montana H helena lena we felt as though we liim had made a successful U visit to this city of about people our meetings in the 0 A R hall and the publications in press which we obtained we dansi considered of no small importance as we had dw be opportunity of sending the articles of our faith before many thousands of the reading public I 1 from helena we went to florence where we were met by a mr john jones who lives two miles from the small ne new town of florence mr jones married ono on of patriarch milo andrews daughters and located here some few years ago on acres of land they have made a good home plenty af of fruit on the farm of good quality grain grows well the stacks of hay bay and grain with fresh vegetables looks like civilization after spending so much time in mining camps the change is is very agreeable to find summer and rural life once more w e think that there is much missionary work to be done in bitter root valley we soon arranged for two meetings in in a log house and school for sunday the of august the people are very busy haying and harve harvesting gung we visited and made friends ri ends and on sunday attended a sunday school had bad the opportunity to speak in the school and gave out our appointments ap ointments iti id the afternoon we had a slim but good meeting and at night a crowded house with excellent results we visited twenty miles up the valley and found a sister waynett who will entertain our elders eiders and so will others the opening here is good od in this valley there is much fine timber and favorable soil wild goose berries huckleberries huckle berries cherries service berries etc sister jones sons kept us no well supplied with pheasants grouse and prairie hens which abound and sister jones has flocks of tame chickens and turk evs the flathead indians have been bought out and moved some distance away we are told that they were mostly made catholics by a catholic priest named raila from whom this country takes jakes its name on tuesday august and sister jones took us in a carriage to florence station and gave us some money they have treated us ns with that kindness which the lords blessin blessings s follow we blessed three of their cl children adren during our stay there E STEVENSON SPOKANE spokane county washington august aist 1896 after our picturesque ride over lake coeur dalene and nine miles by railroad to past falls kootenai county idaho we were ink met by mr samuel young who once lived at preston oneida county idaho he took us two miles to his home and made us very welcome mr young has a farm of acres joining on spokane river it looks provoking to see a large body of water passing to waste sixty feet below his orchard of trees which are partially perishing for want of water running to I 1 k a washout into the pacific ocean thou sandal of acres of land are similarly situated A lot of mormon boys out here would have this river out over the country mr young a member of the methodist church was wad surprised to have their church doors closed to the latter day saints but we obtained the grand army hall tor for two meetings Sund sunday ayat at 3 p m and 8 p m aoth dinst this L his country underwent a boom a few years ago when past falls went up at lever heat but now it is down below zero aro many empty houses and several went up in smoke but they were heavily insured insure this part ot of the country is is in in a very sad condition we have taken a picture of past falls where a man working at the saw mill went down never again to be found two miles below these falls at high tide a woman a man and his bis son were drowned we have promised to visit a man over the river on saturday and eat fish from this river with him he is the husband of the woman who met the sad fate of a water watery y grave A small boy was left on shore with great remonstrance the woman wd said it anything happened to them he could give the alarm and it was the only alarm given which brought relief the boat nearly reached the opposite shore when it ti tipped p ped all out but the son of the woman who with the others was struggling in the swift current one b boy oy caught hold bold and climbed a tree the boy in the boat with une one oar and water in the boat followed with desperate strokes after his mother and after a long chase was nearly ready to grasp her when the boat sank under him he barely gained a tree climbed up and remained main e id until II 11 p m before he was res cued but the poor mother was lost the man and boy who lived on mr youngs farm where we now are also met a watery grave hence three out of 0 the five were lost these are sad tales of past falls the man who was thus bereaved of his wife told us the sad tale with heavy heart he said he should leave the country we shall hall try and console him on our visit with him by enlightening his mind in regard to the mormon hope of joining our wives wives fathers mothers brothers sisters anz and friends on the other side the present parting being only temporary with those who have made their calling and election sure through the laws ot of a restored gospel priesthood and sealing earl po power pr which like peters sealing on earan Is is confirmed in heaven peter received a revelation as to who christ was and jesus said he would build his church upon this rock of revelation As a christian minister lately said to me a church without revelation is no church at all but said be mr stevenson it is death in the pot to preach it ii in our day of unbelief the sealing power has been restored to the prophet joseph smith to seal husband and wife tor for this life and for the life to come now if we can open the eyes of this bereaved family and lead them into the door of christs church we shall have conferred upon him more value than all this part of northern idaho let us hope that our meeting here on the banks of this river of sad scenes and events may not be in vain our visits and two very success successful fuh meetings were in past fast falls nine miles only from where judge hogan died a little more than a year ago he was a utah barrister who married a young and soon left her a poor widow one man said if that is mormon heaven for a man to enjoy his privileges where there are no more tears or parting in to me it is superior to going beyond atje the bounds oi at time and space to hunt for heaven one mr ross came for one of our cards with our address and articles of faith and said where were you in 1846 1 with the mormons cormons Mor mons of course M 1 l then I 1 saw you with the mormons cormons in exile to the west for they passed my house in iowa but sir did you then see that we should build up cities and temples te making a salt land not inhabited abound with pools roses happy homes temples and cities from canada anthe north to mexico on the south one woman came up to the stand say ing in i 1 I want to shake your hands for I 1 heard h ir d this doctrine when a young girl 9 ra I 1 loved it then I 1 love it still one more said 1 I paid my money to build the methodist Meth odest church but not to shut its doors against such mormonism as you preach one of the trustees said we have in out library a book that speaks hard against the mormons cormons Mor mons and we have read anna eliza You young ngon on mormonism yes sir anait was just such lies that thur murdered dered our savior well said he it is not to gentlemen like you that we close our church but mormonism but I 1 shall come and hear you at the grand army hall he did come and many others and we felt that utah was better represented by our friends than by our enemies lot such we feel to thank god as ambassadors of so good a cause this is a hard country but doubtless some good sheep are hereabouts EDWARD STEVENSON M F COWLEY |
