Comments on: Match Your Judgment Against Brigham Young’s – 2: The Answer on Silver Mines

By: J. Stapley

J. Stapley — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:28:42 +0000

Its been a while since I’ve looked at this, but it seems to me that a big portion of Paul Reeve’s volume which looked at the interactions of Miners, Mormons and American Indians, cast BY very much in the camp against mining. I could just be not remembering all the argument though. Perhaps there were regional and temporal variations in BY’s advice?

By: The Other Clark

The Other Clark — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:17:48 +0000

Jesse Knight is the most obvious example of a (relapsed at the time) Mormon who made it big in Utah mines.

I like the practicality of BY’s advice, as well as Ardis’ exegesis of the possible line of reasoning.

Comment #1 seems to imply that corrolation was needed even in BY’s day–but the pioneer approach seems like it would be so much more entertaining to experience.

By: kevinf

kevinf — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:39:14 +0000

Anecdotal bad memory alert! I seem to recall reading that Brigham Young certainly advised against going off to California for the gold mines, but did encourage someone in the gold fields to bring back gold bullion for desperately needed cash for the church coffers. Somehow, Gilbert Hunt, the Mormon colonizer and sometime politician in San Bernardino springs to mind.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:33:01 +0000

Sorry, SteveR. Rereading my #2, I realize it sounds defensive. Didn’t mean it that way.

(I know SteveR in real life — he may know better than any other ‘ninny what’s involved in making a mine pay.)

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:57:29 +0000

?? I didn’t say that Mormons profited from mining! This pair of letters asks if it’s okay to try one’s hand at mining, with the response that yes, it’s okay. There’s no promise of riches here — it’s all prospective (pun intended).

A search of “mines” in Van Wagenen’s 5-volume collection of all Brigham Young’s known speeches discloses a wide range of attitudes toward mining — depending on the time, place, and conditions. His thoughts on the subject are a lot more subtle than he is usually given credit for — to say that he was “fer it” or “agin it” as if he spoke once for all time completely misrepresents him. Ditto for his attitude toward the local Indians — some like to point toward his “cheaper to feed than to fight” statement as though that expressed an unchanging policy. It didn’t, not by any means.

By: SteveR

SteveR — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:44:54 +0000

I don’t know of many Mormons who profited from owning claims, Ardis. My great-great grandfather staked some of the key claims in Mercur, but developing a property requires a lot of money; not just for equipment, labor and transportation, but more importantly for legal battles over who owns the apex rights. The reality is that modern Mormons would do better at Las Vegas and Wendover than 19th Century Mormons could do in Utah’s early mining districts. Here’s an interesting quote from a handcart pioneer who settled at Bingham Canyon:

“Brigham Young tried to talk it down. He knew if he would allow the people they would leave their farms and business. He was counseling them all the time. I heard him say myself that he could look and see from where he was standing in the bowery preaching the place that contained millions of gold, but he would not disclose it to his people, as he thought the time had not come for him to do so. His private secretary was the next to speak, and he in his remarks said he was not like Brother Brigham, for if he knew where the gold was he would go one hat full if he had to put in a sheet iron lining. Brigham pulled his coat for him to sit down, as he would create a spirit of apostacy among the people, but all the same they came to Bingham, but the camp was not developed very extensively for many years, until eastern capital came in to do so.”
–Life of Adaline Ballou Scoville, p.22