The Women of MormondomTullidge, Edward W. (Edward William)
History
The Women of Mormondom
Tullidge, Edward W. (Edward William)
Latter Day Saint churches -- History; Latter Day Saints -- History; Polygamy
While lying at Elk Horn she sent back and succeeded in buying on
credit, and hiring for the journey, several yoke of oxen from brethren
who were not able to emigrate that year, and when the companies were
ready to start she and her family were somewhat better prepared for the
journey, and rolled out with lighter hearts and better prospects than
favored their egress from winter quarters.
As they journeyed on the captain lost no opportunity to vent his
spleen on the widow and her family; but she prayerfully maintained
her integrity of purpose, and pushed vigorously on, despite several
discouraging circumstances.
One day, as they were moving slowly through the hot sand and dust,
in the neighborhood of the Sweetwater, the sun pouring down with
excessive heat, towards noon, one of Widow Smith's best oxen laid
down in the yoke, rolled over on his side, and stiffened out his legs
spasmodically, evidently in the throes of death. The unanimous opinion
was that he was poisoned. All the hindmost teams of course stopped, the
people coming forward to know what was the matter. In a short time the
captain, who was in advance of the company, perceiving that something
was wrong, came to the spot. Probably no one supposed for a moment that
the ox would recover, and the captain's first words on seeing him were:
"He is dead, there is no use working with him; we'll have to fix up
some way to take the widow along; I told her she would be a burden upon
the company."
Meantime Widow Smith had been searching for a bottle of consecrated
oil in one of the wagons, and now came forward with it, and asked her
brother, Joseph Fielding, and the other brethren, to administer to the
ox, thinking that the Lord would raise him up. They did so, pouring
a portion of oil on the top of his head, between and back of the
horns, and all laid hands upon him, and one prayed, administering the
ordinance as they would have done to a human being that was sick. In
a moment he gathered up his legs, and at the first word arose to his
feet, and traveled right off as well as ever. He was not even unyoked
from his mate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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