To read more from Daniel, visit his blog: Sic Et Non.
Cover image via Gospel Media Library.
Brett DeLange, who was among the participants in the just-completed Interpreter Foundation educational tour to Guatemala and Mexico, kindly reminded me of a nice story about Brigham Young that I’ll now share with you. I believe that it illustrates an important facet of Brigham’s character that is often overlooked or even denied:
One disturbing incident occurred almost at the very start [of the pioneer trek to the Great Basin]. A rule had been established that no wagon in the procession should stop, because this would cause a break in the train and encourage an Indian attack. Lucy Groves attempted to climb out of her wagon while it was in motion. Weak from having given birth just ten days before, she slipped and fell in front of the front wheel. It ran over her body and broke three ribs. Her husband was standing close by and grabbed her as quickly as he could to prevent the hind wheel from running over her leg too. But her leg was broken as well. Brigham went to her immediately, set her leg, and gave her a blessing assuring her that she would reach Salt Lake in good condition.
Lucy’s children had to walk from then on, as the bed upon which she lay took up all the room in the wagon. Her thirteen-year-old daughter assumed her mother’s tasks — cooking, washing, caring for the little children. But on the ninth day out, when it seemed that the leg was knitting satisfactorily and Lucy would soon be up, the daughter accidentally stumbled over her mother’s leg, breaking it a second time. This time the pain was so severe that Lucy cried out in agony at every step the oxen took. She finally told her husband that he would have to pull out of the train and stop. When Brigham saw the wagon pull to one side, he stopped the entire train and rode back to where Lucy was. Tears were falling down her cheeks as she explained the situation and urged him to go on without them. Brigham replied that he would do no such thing; he would not leave any of his people alone. Instead, he made camp for the night, sawed off the tops and bottoms of the legs of the poster bed so there was nothing left but the frame around the mattress and the springs, which were laced across pioneer style. He fastened this to the wagon bows so it would swing easily, like a hammock. He then renewed his blessing to Lucy, promising her she would live many years. He rode by her side for several days to make sure that she had no further trouble. “With his gentle kind manner,” wrote Lucy’s grandson, “he won the love of Lucy and her posterity forever.”
(Leonard J. Arrington, Brigham Young: American Moses [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985], 157-158)
