The members of the Mormon Battalion have a surprise run-in with wild bulls at a crossing of the San Pedro River. A handful of battalion members are injured as the bulls charge the men, mules and wagons.
In his personal account of the battalion's actions, Col. Cooke records seeing a Cpl. Frost coolly stare down a charging bull and hold his ground: "He aimed his musket very deliberately and only fired when the beast was within 10 paces; and it fell headlong, almost at his feet."
[Source: Mormon Battalion Timeline, Herald Extra, March 25, 2010]
175 years ago today - Dec 11, 1841
[Polyandrous marriage]
Apostle Wilford Woodruff, as the officially appointed "Church Historian" recorded the following in his "Historian's Private Journal," "Joseph Smith & Presinda [sic] Huntington were sealed Dec 11, 1841 by Dimick B. Huntington in Nauvoo[.]" Prescindia was currently married to Norman Buell with 2 sons.
[Source: Wilford Woodruff, "Historian's Private Journal" (one volume, 1858-78), entries after 1 July 1866, LDS Church History Library; "Evidence For The Sexual Side of Joseph Smith's Polygamy," Comments by D. Michael Quinn on Session #2A "Reconsidering Joseph Smith's Marital Practices," Mormon History Association's Annual Conference, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 29 June 2012 (unabbreviated version, revised during July)]
Apostle Wilford Woodruff, as the officially appointed "Church Historian" recorded the following in his "Historian's Private Journal," "Joseph Smith & Presinda [sic] Huntington were sealed Dec 11, 1841 by Dimick B. Huntington in Nauvoo[.]" Prescindia was currently married to Norman Buell with 2 sons.
[Source: Wilford Woodruff, "Historian's Private Journal" (one volume, 1858-78), entries after 1 July 1866, LDS Church History Library; "Evidence For The Sexual Side of Joseph Smith's Polygamy," Comments by D. Michael Quinn on Session #2A "Reconsidering Joseph Smith's Marital Practices," Mormon History Association's Annual Conference, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 29 June 2012 (unabbreviated version, revised during July)]
180 years ago today - Dec 11, 1836
[Wilford Woodruff]
... I went up to the house of God to worship & O what a meeting. May it be Printed upon my heart as a memorial forever. For on this day the God of Israel Sharply reproved this stake of Zion (Kirtland) through the Prophets & Apostles for all our sins & backslidings & also a timely warning that we may escape the Judgments of God that otherwise will fall upon us. Even the case of the travels of the Camp of the Saints from Kirtland to Zion in 1834 Was Presented to us for an example. <God set the law in judgment on Kirtland [---] remember this warning [-] judgment must [-] the law [-] God save many for Christ's sake.>
[Source: Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
... I went up to the house of God to worship & O what a meeting. May it be Printed upon my heart as a memorial forever. For on this day the God of Israel Sharply reproved this stake of Zion (Kirtland) through the Prophets & Apostles for all our sins & backslidings & also a timely warning that we may escape the Judgments of God that otherwise will fall upon us. Even the case of the travels of the Camp of the Saints from Kirtland to Zion in 1834 Was Presented to us for an example. <God set the law in judgment on Kirtland [---] remember this warning [-] judgment must [-] the law [-] God save many for Christ's sake.>
[Source: Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
45 years ago today - Dec 10, 1971
Henry B. Eyring is inaugurated as the ninth president of Ricks College.
110 years ago today - Dec 10, 1906
[David O. McKay]
I was very gloomily impressed with Dr. [James E.] Talmage's attitude toward and remarks on the question of Univ[ersity?]. S[unday]. S[chool].and other topics. He was wordy and it seemed to me, (fight the thought as I would) insincere. He must repent or do down spiritually.
[Source: David O. McKay, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
I was very gloomily impressed with Dr. [James E.] Talmage's attitude toward and remarks on the question of Univ[ersity?]. S[unday]. S[chool].and other topics. He was wordy and it seemed to me, (fight the thought as I would) insincere. He must repent or do down spiritually.
[Source: David O. McKay, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
145 years ago today - Dec 10, 1871
Orson Pratt sermon on First Vision: "Here was Joseph Smith, a boy…he was only between fourteen and fifteen years of age…Would he stand forth and bear testimony that he had seen with his own eyesa messenger of light and glory, and that he heardthe words of his mouth as they dropped from hislips and had received a message from the MostHigh, at that early age? And then…to have the finger of scorn pointed at him… 'No visions in our day, no angels come in our day…' and still continue to testify…that God had sent his angel from heaven."
[Source: "Journal of Discourses", Vol. 14, p.262, in A Documented History of Joseph Smith's First Vision, http://beggarsbread.org/2013/04/01/a-documented-history-of-joseph-smiths-first-vision/]
[Source: "Journal of Discourses", Vol. 14, p.262, in A Documented History of Joseph Smith's First Vision, http://beggarsbread.org/2013/04/01/a-documented-history-of-joseph-smiths-first-vision/]
150 years ago today - Dec 10, 1866
[Wilford Woodruff]
I spent the Evening in President Youngs Office & met with the regency & they voted to adopte pitmans Phonetic letters for our Deseret Alphabet.
[Source: Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
I spent the Evening in President Youngs Office & met with the regency & they voted to adopte pitmans Phonetic letters for our Deseret Alphabet.
[Source: Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
150 years ago today - Dec 10, 1866
African American Thomas Coleman brutally murdered for "meddling with white women"
[Source: http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/Chronology-Pertaining-to-Blacks-and-the-LDS-Church]
[Source: http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/Chronology-Pertaining-to-Blacks-and-the-LDS-Church]
165 years ago today - Dec 10, 1851
[Brigham Young]
The doctors and priests of the day send more to death and hell than anywhere else. About one in a million may get some glory. A bigger set of cursed scoundrels never graced the earth than that class. Surgery is a different class and is very necessary in many instances and that system can be learned. But to learn the system of man, they can no more learn that, than they can learn the heavens. A worse set of ignoramuses do not walk the earth. They do not know how to turn wind in a man's body when it gets cross ways. If you cut their infernal throats, the people will live. ... The practice of doctors in visiting women in childbirth is damnable. Women should be let alone and let nature have its perfect work.
[Source: Wilford Woodruff's Journal. 9 Vols. Scott G. Kenney, ed. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1983-85. 4:81-85, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
The doctors and priests of the day send more to death and hell than anywhere else. About one in a million may get some glory. A bigger set of cursed scoundrels never graced the earth than that class. Surgery is a different class and is very necessary in many instances and that system can be learned. But to learn the system of man, they can no more learn that, than they can learn the heavens. A worse set of ignoramuses do not walk the earth. They do not know how to turn wind in a man's body when it gets cross ways. If you cut their infernal throats, the people will live. ... The practice of doctors in visiting women in childbirth is damnable. Women should be let alone and let nature have its perfect work.
[Source: Wilford Woodruff's Journal. 9 Vols. Scott G. Kenney, ed. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1983-85. 4:81-85, in The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, Ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City (2009), http://bit.ly/BY-discourses]
170 years ago today - Dec 10, 1846
[Hosea Stout]
Today I made myself a pair of Leggins after the real rude Indian fashion which was of more real service against the "chilling blast than I had before imagined and I confess that I am much taken with them.
[Source: Diaries of Hosea Stout]
Today I made myself a pair of Leggins after the real rude Indian fashion which was of more real service against the "chilling blast than I had before imagined and I confess that I am much taken with them.
[Source: Diaries of Hosea Stout]
20 years ago today - Dec 9, 1996
Church website initiated at lds.org.
[Source: Hemidakaota, "Church Chronology from 1800-2000," http://lds.net/forums/topic/10668-church-chronology-from-1800-2000-part-1/]
[Source: Hemidakaota, "Church Chronology from 1800-2000," http://lds.net/forums/topic/10668-church-chronology-from-1800-2000-part-1/]
75 years ago today - Dec 9, 1941
On 9 December 1941 Henry H. Arnold, commanding the United States Army's Air Forces, directed that military resources be dispersed inland so that a single attack could not destroy significant military capability. In such an environment, decisions to locate training and other support facilities to inland areas was a natural extension. The greater security for bases in the Great Basin interior ensured that military efforts would not be impeded by possible enemy attack.
[Source: Utah History Encyclopedia: World War II, http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/]
[Source: Utah History Encyclopedia: World War II, http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/]
90 years ago today - Dec 9, 1926
[George F. Richards]
Attended temple meeting at 8:15 a.m. and the Weekly Council meeting at 10:00 a.m. The latter continued until about 5 P.M. We had under consideration a revision of the Temple ordinances. The question of [the oath of ] Retribution took considerable time.
[Source: George F. Richards diary, Dec. 9, 1926, in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]
Attended temple meeting at 8:15 a.m. and the Weekly Council meeting at 10:00 a.m. The latter continued until about 5 P.M. We had under consideration a revision of the Temple ordinances. The question of [the oath of ] Retribution took considerable time.
[Source: George F. Richards diary, Dec. 9, 1926, in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]
110 years ago today - Dec 9, 1906; Sunday
Apostle [Francis M.] Lyman. ... There are people who seem to think that it is their business to regulate the church the stake, or the ward where he lives. There are others who feel that their rights are curtailed who cannot obtain the privileges which belong to them. We do not want men to trouble us. The bishop & high council must may take care of such characters & if necessary cast them out. No plural marriages are to be permitted. No man in the world is authorized to solemnise such marriages.
[Source: Anderson, Elizabeth Oberdick, editor, Cowboy Apostle: The Diaries of Anthony W. Ivins: 1875-1932, Signature Books, Salt Lake City in association with the Smith-Pettit Foundation (2013) - http://bit.ly/AnthonyIvins]
[Source: Anderson, Elizabeth Oberdick, editor, Cowboy Apostle: The Diaries of Anthony W. Ivins: 1875-1932, Signature Books, Salt Lake City in association with the Smith-Pettit Foundation (2013) - http://bit.ly/AnthonyIvins]
135 years ago today - Dec 9, 1881
[Heber J. Grant]
The house was full. Many ladies & gentlemen having to stand. I was ashamed of myself for not giving some lady my seat. I looked behind me & saw some 'hard sticks' and concluded as I had come early for no other reason than to get a seat I would keep it. Just before the lecture was over the 2 parties sitting on my right got up & Misses Lottie Eldridge & Clarissa Young took their seats. I can truthfully say I never was much worse ashamed in my life. I would not have kept my seat for $1000 had I known these girls were standing behind me, but I felt hat it served me right for not getting up when I first looked around.
[Source: The Diaries of Heber J. Grant, 1880-1945, Abridged, Digital Edition Salt Lake City, Utah, 2015]
The house was full. Many ladies & gentlemen having to stand. I was ashamed of myself for not giving some lady my seat. I looked behind me & saw some 'hard sticks' and concluded as I had come early for no other reason than to get a seat I would keep it. Just before the lecture was over the 2 parties sitting on my right got up & Misses Lottie Eldridge & Clarissa Young took their seats. I can truthfully say I never was much worse ashamed in my life. I would not have kept my seat for $1000 had I known these girls were standing behind me, but I felt hat it served me right for not getting up when I first looked around.
[Source: The Diaries of Heber J. Grant, 1880-1945, Abridged, Digital Edition Salt Lake City, Utah, 2015]
170 years ago today - Dec 9, 1846
[Hosea Stout]
This morning about three oclock I was called up by S. A. Dunn one of the police then on guard. He said that there was a difficulty amongst the Omahas camped North of town & some had been shot.& I was wanted at President Youngs so I went there and called up some more of the police & some others as I went
When I got there I found this house crouded full of the Omahas who had fled there for shelter. One squaw had been shot through the arm which was shattered to atoms & an old Indian picking out the little bones with his fingers. Her arm was cut off the next day by Dr. Cannon
Old Big Head a chief was shot in the head arm & had his thumb shot off[.] He was badly wounded some were missing and supposed to be dead.
The utmost confusion reighned with them and they appeared frightened badly. I here learned that they had been attacted by a party of the Iowas who came to their lodges at this dead hour of the night and fired upon them & then fled[.] I in company with a party of police and some others went with some of the Indians to their Lodges to see if any thing more was done and to hunt for the missing
Their lodges were in a gore of blood but could not find any one. However after a long while one of the old Indians raised a howling yell & was answered not far off where we found the one we supposed to be dead[.] He was at Charles Pattenshe was very badly wounded a ball passing in near the left eye. The ball was started out of its socket[.] I did not think he would live.
We then went back and after seeing that all was put to rights came home & yet it was not day[.] While at their Lodges we could hear the Iowas howling on the other side of the river.
About the middle of the forenoon I went up again to see how matters were going on[.] I found the wounded Indians located in a sod house where they had been put by order of President Young and doing as well as could be expected.
The rest of the Indians moved their lodges by President Youngs house as they were afraid to stay any longer where they were least they should be attacted agan
I went and examined the Lodges and found that the assailants had shot through them and of course what had been done was by a random shot.
[Source: Diaries of Hosea Stout]
This morning about three oclock I was called up by S. A. Dunn one of the police then on guard. He said that there was a difficulty amongst the Omahas camped North of town & some had been shot.& I was wanted at President Youngs so I went there and called up some more of the police & some others as I went
When I got there I found this house crouded full of the Omahas who had fled there for shelter. One squaw had been shot through the arm which was shattered to atoms & an old Indian picking out the little bones with his fingers. Her arm was cut off the next day by Dr. Cannon
Old Big Head a chief was shot in the head arm & had his thumb shot off[.] He was badly wounded some were missing and supposed to be dead.
The utmost confusion reighned with them and they appeared frightened badly. I here learned that they had been attacted by a party of the Iowas who came to their lodges at this dead hour of the night and fired upon them & then fled[.] I in company with a party of police and some others went with some of the Indians to their Lodges to see if any thing more was done and to hunt for the missing
Their lodges were in a gore of blood but could not find any one. However after a long while one of the old Indians raised a howling yell & was answered not far off where we found the one we supposed to be dead[.] He was at Charles Pattenshe was very badly wounded a ball passing in near the left eye. The ball was started out of its socket[.] I did not think he would live.
We then went back and after seeing that all was put to rights came home & yet it was not day[.] While at their Lodges we could hear the Iowas howling on the other side of the river.
About the middle of the forenoon I went up again to see how matters were going on[.] I found the wounded Indians located in a sod house where they had been put by order of President Young and doing as well as could be expected.
The rest of the Indians moved their lodges by President Youngs house as they were afraid to stay any longer where they were least they should be attacted agan
I went and examined the Lodges and found that the assailants had shot through them and of course what had been done was by a random shot.
[Source: Diaries of Hosea Stout]
105 years ago today - Dec 8, 1911
At 11:30 this forenoon I was ordained an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ ... Before proceeding with the ordination, President Smith asked President Lyman if he had anything to say to Bro[ther]. Talmage. ... He also said that he had instructed Bro[ther]. Talmage with respect to the necessity of his being in perfect accord with the brethren of the Twelve, informing him also that in all their private councils it would be his privilege to freely express his own individual views but that after doing so it would become his duty to be united with this brethren on the conclusions and decisions arrived at, even should the conclusions and decisions be contrary to his own views and judgment. ... Bro[ther]. Talmage now received his ordination which was as follows: [']Dear Brother James E. Talmage, as your fellow servants and as Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, in authority of the holy priesthood, which is after the order of the Son of God, we lay our hands upon your head, and ordain you an Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and also set you apart to be one of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and confer upon you all the keys, rights, privileges, blessings, ministries and authority, pertaining to this high and holy calling, to the end that you may be, as you have been heretofore, but more abundantly, a living witness to the divinity of the lord Jesus Christ'a special witness of Him unto all the world, knowing and understanding as though you had seen by the sight of your eyes, and heard by the hearing of your ear, that the Lord God Almighty, our Heavenly Father, sent forth His Son unto the world, to become the Savior and redeemer of mankind; and that He did come, that he did live and die and rise again, and ascend on high, and that He does now sit enthroned with power and dominion on the right hand of the Father, and He has chosen His own brethren from time to time to be his fellow-laborers in the world, to administer to the children of men for their own salvation & exaltation, and they and all mankind through them might be brought to a knowledge of the Father and the Son. 'Now our dear brother in the Lord, we bless you and ordain you, conferring upon you the holy Apostleship, with all that pertains to this high and holy calling; and we pray God to bestow upon you the spirit of this calling abundantly and continue unto you the spirit of humility and meekness even more abundantly than you have ever experienced it heretofore, that you may be most exemplary and most efficient in the performance of your duties, and be an honor to the cause of God.
'Father, bless this thy servant and accept of him and fill him with the light of truth, the gift of the Holy ghost, and the testimony of Christ, that he may labor diligently for the salvation of souls, and that his labors may be acceptable in thy sight. 'We seal upon you Brother Talmage, all these things, by authority of the Holy Priesthood vested in us; and this we do in the name of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, even so, Amen.' This being done President Smith and all the brethren present congratulated Brother Talmage, and extended to him the right hand of fellowship. (Signed) Geo[rge]. F. Gibbs The occasion is to me one of irrepressible reverence and sanctity. To me the calling of an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ has always been one of special sanctity requiring the unreserved devotion of the man so honored. It is a calling above any office, station or title that man can confer.
[Source: James E. Talmage, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
'Father, bless this thy servant and accept of him and fill him with the light of truth, the gift of the Holy ghost, and the testimony of Christ, that he may labor diligently for the salvation of souls, and that his labors may be acceptable in thy sight. 'We seal upon you Brother Talmage, all these things, by authority of the Holy Priesthood vested in us; and this we do in the name of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, even so, Amen.' This being done President Smith and all the brethren present congratulated Brother Talmage, and extended to him the right hand of fellowship. (Signed) Geo[rge]. F. Gibbs The occasion is to me one of irrepressible reverence and sanctity. To me the calling of an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ has always been one of special sanctity requiring the unreserved devotion of the man so honored. It is a calling above any office, station or title that man can confer.
[Source: James E. Talmage, Diary, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
105 years ago today - Dec 8, 1911
James E. Talmage is ordained an apostle. Although Apostle Orson Pratt had self-taught interests in mathematics and astronomy, Talmage is the first apostle with university training in the sciences (geology). He is also the first general authority and first apostle with a Ph.D. degree (from Illinois Wesleyan University). However, as a non-resident, correspondence doctorate, his degree lacks full academic stature. Nevertheless, Talmage's appointment heralds a forty-year era when scientifically trained intellectuals serve in the Quorum of the Twelve. Succeeding appointments of Richard R. Lyman, John A. Widtsoe, Joseph F. Merrill, and (to a lesser extent) Sylvester Q. Cannon have a considerable impact on the LDS church administration. From 1921 until 1952 there are always two (and sometimes four) scientifically-trained intellectuals at the highest levels of decision-making. There are no scientific doctorates in the Twelve from 1952 until 1984, when Russell M. Nelson (physician with a Ph.D.) becomes an apostle. On nuclear engineering becomes church patriarch in 1947, and another becomes an apostle in 1988. Theodore M Burton (with a Ph.D. in chemistry from Purdue) serves as an Assitant to the Twelve (1960-76) and in the First Quorum of the Seventy (1976-89), George R. Hill III (with a Ph.D. in chemistry from Cornell) serves in the First Quroum of the Seventy (1987-92), and Alexander B. Marrison (with a Ph.D. in food sciences, Cornell) serves in the Seventy (1987-... some time after Quinn complied this list).
[Source: The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
[Source: The Mormon Hierarchy - Extensions of Power by D. Michael Quinn, [New Mormon History database (http://bit.ly/NMHdatabase)]]
150 years ago today - Dec 8, 1866
While in the Endowment House President Heber C Kimball said that God had revealed to him that whare A Blessing was sealed upon him by the Holy Priesthood and the man forfeited that Blessing that the Blessing would descend to his children & they would obtain it.
[Source: Wilford Woodruff, Historian's Private Journal, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
[Source: Wilford Woodruff, Historian's Private Journal, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1835-1951, Electronic Edition, 2015]
180 years ago today - 1836: 8 December
[Patriarchal Blessing]
Abel Butterfield. (Given by Joseph Smith, Sen.)
" ... thou shalt be a mighty Man in the earth--the earth shall tremble at the sound of thy voice thou shalt have such great power that the inhabitants shall acknowledge thee to be a man of God... Thou shalt teach the Lamanites the wonderful things of God in their tongue thou shalt baptize many and they shall rejoice in the Lord Thou hast been in earnest to receive thy blessing.... thou shalt live to see the winding up scene of this generation... --by authority of the Priesthood I seal thee up to eternal life Amen."
[Source: From typescript; William Smith Patriarchal Blessings Book, pp. 133-134, RLDS Archives, in Selected LDS Patriarchal Blessings, New Mormon Studies CD ROM, Signature Book, 2009, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
Abel Butterfield. (Given by Joseph Smith, Sen.)
" ... thou shalt be a mighty Man in the earth--the earth shall tremble at the sound of thy voice thou shalt have such great power that the inhabitants shall acknowledge thee to be a man of God... Thou shalt teach the Lamanites the wonderful things of God in their tongue thou shalt baptize many and they shall rejoice in the Lord Thou hast been in earnest to receive thy blessing.... thou shalt live to see the winding up scene of this generation... --by authority of the Priesthood I seal thee up to eternal life Amen."
[Source: From typescript; William Smith Patriarchal Blessings Book, pp. 133-134, RLDS Archives, in Selected LDS Patriarchal Blessings, New Mormon Studies CD ROM, Signature Book, 2009, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
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