Forty Years Among the Indians: A true yet thrilling narrative of the author's experiences among the nativesJones, Daniel W. (Daniel Webster)
History
Forty Years Among the Indians: A true yet thrilling narrative of the author's experiences among the natives
Jones, Daniel W. (Daniel Webster)
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Indians of North America; Latter Day Saint pioneers -- Biography
On arriving at President Young's office August 25th, 1857, I found
quite a number present. I was asked if I was ready for the hearing.
I replied that I did not see my witnesses. President Young answered:
"When we need them we will send for them." I was then called upon to
give my report and show how we had lived, what the cost of living was,
etc. I had an account of all our expenditures, which amounted to about
75 cts. a week for each man. Some one remarked that we could not live
so cheaply. Then began quite a discussion over our cheap living. Some
were inclined to question my statement. Brother Young said to me,
"Brother Jones, get up and tell the brethren just how you lived, and
explain to them why your accounts only amount to 75 cts. a week."
I then made the statement that we had killed and eaten forty head of
cattle that were so poor they were dying; we had lived on the meat and
hides some two months; that we had not credited the owners anything for
them, as we thought it was worth the cattle to eat them. That we had
killed some game at various times. That was ours, no credit allowed;
had lived two weeks on thistles dug from the frozen ground, no credit;
one week on native garlic; three days on minnows caught with a dip-net,
fish too small to clean, rather bitter in taste, no credit; several
meals on prickly pear leaves roasted, no credit; several days without
anything much but water to drink, no credit; some five months mostly on
short rations without bread or salt. These were about all the reasons
for the price being so low. The seventy-five cents per week covered
all the meats bought of Indians or anyone else. All groceries, soap,
candles, in fact everything used belonging to the companies, including
some leather owned by F. D. Richards, who remarked to me that he was
glad it was there for us to use. Brothers Jas. Ferguson and W. C.
Dunbar also made the same remark about some groceries used of theirs.
Not so with some others. They grieved very much over what stuff had
been used of theirs.
After I got through making my statements. Brother Young asked each of
my accusers what they had to say. No one answered. Then he spoke each
man's name, asking them one at a time if they believed what I had said.
All replied in the affirmative. He asked each one if they believed I
had been honest, and taken good care of their goods. All answered "Yes."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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