Part 16 (1/2)
The communal system was given formal adoption at Allen's Camp April 28, 1877, when articles were agreed upon for a branch of the United Order.
June 5, 1877, with Wm. C. Allen presiding, there was an appraisal of property and a separation of duties. Henry M. Tanner (who still is in St.
Joseph), was secretary, John Bushman foreman of the farm, James Walker water master and Moses D. Steele superintendent of livestock. Niels Nielsen was in charge of ox teams and Jos. H. Rogers in charge of horse teams, harness and wagons. The Church historian has given in detail the manner in which the system worked:
”From the beginning the Saints at Allen's Camp disciplined themselves strictly according to Church rules. Every morning the Saints, at the sound of the triangle, a.s.sembled in the schoolhouse for prayer, on which occasion they would not only pray and sing, but sometimes brethren would make brief remarks. The same was resorted to in the evening. They did not all eat at the same table (a common custom followed in the other camps), but nevertheless great union, peace and love prevailed among the people, and none seemed to take advantage of his neighbor. Peace, harmony and brotherly love characterized all the settlers at Allen's Camp from the very beginning.”
In August, 1878, Samuel G. Ladd wrote from the new St. Joseph, that the United Order worked harmoniously and prosperously. In that year manufacturing of brooms was commenced by John Bushman. Up to 1882 each family was drawing from one common storehouse. In 1883 the Order was dissolved at St. Joseph and the stewards.h.i.+p plan adopted. Each family received its part of the divided land and a settlement of what each man originally had put into the Order. Proforma organization of the Order was continued until January, 1887.
Hospitality Was of Generous Sort
From Sunset Crossing Camp, G. C. Wood wrote, in April, 1876, ”The brethren built a long shanty, with a long table in it and all ate their meals together, worked together and got along finely.” In February, 1878, President Lot Smith wrote the Deseret News in a strain that indicated doubt concerning the efficiency of the United Order system. His letter told:
”This mission has had a strange history so far, most who came having got weak in the back or knees and gone home. Some, I believe, have felt somewhat exercised about the way we are getting along, and the mode in which we are conducting our culinary affairs. Now, I have always had a preference for eating with my family and have striven to show that I was willing to enlarge as often as circ.u.mstances require, and the same feeling seemed to prevail in these settlements. We have enlarged ourselves to the amount of forty in one day. We have noticed that most people who pa.s.s the road are willing to stop and board with us a week or two, notwithstanding our poor provisions and the queer style it was served up.”
In July of the same year, Lorenzo Hatch wrote from Woodruff, ”At Sunset, Brigham City and Woodruff, the settlements eat at one table, hence we have no poor nor rich among us. The Obed camp also had gone into the United Order in the fullest sense in May, 1876.”
Brigham City's Varied Industries
Ballenger, in September, 1878, was renamed Brigham City, in honor of President Brigham Young. Its people were found by Erastus Snow in September, 1878, with a remarkable organization, operating in part under the United Order system. There was a fort 200 feet square, with rocky walls seven feet high. Inside were 36 dwelling houses, each 15x13 feet.
On the north side was the dining hall, 80x20 feet, with two rows of tables, to seat more than 150 persons. Adjoining was a kitchen, 25x20 feet, with an annexed bakehouse. Twelve other dwelling houses were mentioned, as well as a cellar and storehouse. Water was secured within the enclosure from two good wells. South of the fort were corrals and stockyards. The main industry was the farming of 274 acres, more than one-half of it in wheat. A pottery was in charge of Brother Behrman, reported to have been confident that he could surpa.s.s any of the potteries in Utah for good ware. Milk was secured from 142 cows. One family was a.s.signed to the sawmill in the mountains. J. A. Woods taught the first school. Jesse O. Ballenger, the first leader, was succeeded in 1878 by George Lake, who reported that, ”while the people were living together in the United Order they generally ate together at the same table. The Saints, as a rule, were very earnest in their endeavors to carry out the principles of the Order, but some became dissatisfied and moved away.” Discouragement became general, and in 1881 all were released from the mission. The settlement practically was broken up, the people scattering, though without dissension.
Some went to Forest Dale, and later to the Gila River, and some left Arizona altogether. There was a surplus from the experiment of about $8000, which went to the Church, after the people had drawn out their original capital, each taking the same number of animals and the same amount of property contributed originally. In 1882 only a couple of families were left and an added surplus of $2200 was used by the Church in settling the Gila country. In 1890 only the family of Sidney Wilson remained on the old site of Brigham City. The Brigham City water-power grist mill built in 1878, a present from the Church, was given to the people of Woodruff, but was not used.
The abandonment of Brigham City should not be blamed to the weakness of a communistic system. There had been frequent failures of crops and there had come a determination to find a locality where nature would smile more often upon the barley, so scouts were sent to the San Juan country in Utah, the Salt River country and to the Gila. George Lake, Andrew Anderson and George W. Skinner const.i.tuted the Gila party. Near Smithville they bought land, a transaction elsewhere referred to.
Anderson and Skinner, in December, 1880, returned to Brigham City. At that point a business meeting was called at once and the authorities of the United Order approved the purchases made.
January 1, 1878, was announced a census of the settlement of the Little Colorado country. Sunset had 136 inhabitants, Ballenger 277, Allen's Camp 76, Woodruff 50 and Moen Copie 25, a total of 564, with 115 families.
Brief Lives of Obed and Taylor
The settlement of Obed, three miles southwest of St. Joseph, directly south of old Allen's Camp and across the river, bears date from June, 1876, having been moved a short distance from the first camp ground. At that time was built a fort of remarkable strength, twelve rods square. In places, the walls were ten feet high. There were bastions, with portholes for defense, at two of the corners, and portholes were in the walls all around. The camp at the start had 123 souls. Cottonwood logs were sawed for lumber. The community had a schoolhouse in January, 1877, and a denominational school was started the next month, with Phoebe McNeil as teacher. The settlement was not a happy one. The site was malarial, selected against Church instructions, and there were the usual troubles in the was.h.i.+ng away of brush and log dams. The population drifted away, until there was abandonment in 1878.
Taylor was a small settlement on the Little Colorado, about three miles below the present St. Joseph, and should not be confounded with the present settlement of the same name near Snowflake. This first Taylor was established January 22, 1878, by eight families, mainly from Panguitch and Beaver, Utah. In the United Order they built a dining hall, a quarter-mile back from the river and organized as a ward, with John Kartchner at its head. But there was discouragement, not unnaturally, when the river dam went out for the fifth time. Then, in July, 1878, members of the settlement departed, going to the present site of Snowflake on Silver Creek. They included a number of Arkansas immigrants.
There had been little improvement outside of the stockade and dining hall, and for most of the time the people lived in their wagons.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE COLORADO FERRY AND RANCH AT THE MOUTH OF THE PARIA By courtesy of Dr. George Wharton James]
[Ill.u.s.tration: LEE CABIN AT MOEN AVI]
[Ill.u.s.tration: MOEN COPIE WOOLEN MILL. First and Only One in Arizona]
Chapter Fourteen
Travel, Missions and Industries
Pa.s.sing of the Boston Party