The year 1857 made its appearance in the midst of an unusual and extraordinary snowstorm. The ushering in of the new year in such a manner was portentous of the stormy and extraordinary experiences of the Saints. Elder Woodruff records that he passed most of the day in company with President Young and Franklin D. Richards. They were actively engaged in compiling Church history. It is remarkable how completely attached to the leaders of the Church Elder Woodruff was. His trust in them was both complete and sublime. He never found occasion to suppose for one moment that these leaders ever proved unworthy of the trust he imposed in them. In his mind, Brigham Young was a Prophet of God, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, as truly and perfectly as was Samuel of old, or Peter, or Paul. His reverence and respect for the living oracles were as perfect as for the dead. The words of both Joseph and Brigham, he was always careful to write down in his journal. In time when the sermons were recorded by reporters of the Church, he confined his record to sayings that were made when there was no reporter present. On the 11th of January, in the Eighteenth ward, President Young addressed the people and from his sermon Elder Woodruff records among other things these words: "It is sometimes taught among us that we should follow Brother Joseph or Brother Brigham, or some other leader, and do as they say, and that is all that is required. Now this is in one sense a false doctrine. No man should trust solely the testimony of another. He should have a direct testimony from God for himself. Then obedience is intelligent and not blind. I might have listened to Joseph Smith testify to the truth of the Book of Mormon until I was as old as Methuselah, and in the end I would have gone away in darkness had I not {378} received a testimony from God that he was a prophet and that he knew by revelation whereof he spoke. Men should get the spirit of God and then live by it." In those days there was a strong sympathetic interest in the welfare of the Indians. The better ones among them were feeling constantly greater confidence in the people and in their leaders. They had a real friendship for those white men who treated them, not only kindly, but with high consideration for their rights. The Indian felt that there were reasons why he should command respect as well as receive justice. Aropene seems to have been a chief specially favored among the Indians and respected by the Saints. In the early part of that year, Elder Woodruff records that this chief delivered a strong discourse to the Saints in which he exhorted them to respect the counsel of their leaders and to abstain especially from the use of liquor, and to do right in all things.