The Times Brigham Young Freed Indian Slaves, Heard God’s Voice, Had Angelic Visitors…etc.…etc.…

Brigham Young kind of takes a lot of flak. He shouldn’t – he was actually an amazing man & prophet. Below is a list of occurrences from his life showing just how on track he was. (Hint: He was very on track!)

Jumping in…

1)     Brigham Young Assuming the Reins

As you may know, when Smith died there was a big controversy about who should sit in his seat. Sure, you could piece it together with Smith’s Rocky Mountain predictions (and who ended up there), but there was also a time, according to this, where Smith himself said Brigham Young would one day fill his shoes. It happened after Young spoke in tongues for the first time. Some people were weirded out by it, and asked JS his opinion on the matter. This is his recorded response:

“…it is of God, and the time will come when brother Brigham Young will preside over this Church.” (https://books.google.com/books?id=pDAEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA115&lpg=PA115&dq=%E2%80%9CNo,+it+is+of+God,+and+the+time+will+come+when+brother+Brigham+Young+will+preside+over+this+Church.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=iD1ja3ABji&sig=ACfU3U1_tAcvMT4AVwol1XJn7dXYgXZM5g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjT4c762fHgAhVm2IMKHTG2B2MQ6AEwBXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CNo%2C%20it%20is%20of%20God%2C%20and%20the%20time%20will%20come%20when%20brother%20Brigham%20Young%20will%20preside%20over%20this%20Church.%E2%80%9D&f=false)

2)     God’s Voice Declares Brigham is the Guy

Joseph Smith wasn’t the only one with this opinion. Brigham Young as Joseph Smith’s successor was once backed up by God’s own booming voice:

“In October 1860, during a speech at the Bowery in Salt Lake City, Elder Orson Hyde of the Council of the Twelve remembered a meeting held by the apostles in February 1848 at Pottawattamie County, Iowa, where a small branch of the westward-moving Church was residing for the winter. “We were in prayer and council,” he said, communing together; and what took place on that occasion? The voice of God came from on high, and spake to the Council. Every latent feeling was aroused, and every heart melted. What did it say unto us? “Let my servant Brigham step forth and receive the full power of the presiding priesthood in my Church and kingdom.” This was the voice of the Almighty unto us at Council Bluffs. . . . I am one that was present, and there are others here that were also present on that occasion, and did hear and feel the voice from heaven, and we were filled with the power of God. . . . We said nothing about the matter in those times, but kept it still.

“Subsequently, however, when his remarks were being prepared for publication, Elder Hyde added a note regarding something that he said he had omitted in his address:

“Men, women, and children came running together where we were, and asked us what was the matter. They said that their houses shook, and the ground trembled, and they did not know but that there was an earthquake. We told them that there was nothing the matter—not to be alarmed; the Lord was only whispering to us a little, and that he was probably not very far off. We felt no shaking of the earth or of the house, but were filled with the exceeding power and goodness of God.” (https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2017/12/i-am-one-that-was-present.html)

3)     Brigham Young’s Angelic Visitors

That’s big, obviously, but that was not the end of Young’s spiritual experiences. More than just voices – he also had angelic visitations that strongly echoed those of Joseph Smith. According to Heber C. Kimball:

“…You need not ask who administer to brother Brigham; for I will tell you: They are Moses and Aaron, Elijah, Jesus, Peter, James, and John, brother Joseph, Michael the Archangel, and the hosts of the righteous behind the vail: they are all engaged in this great work.” (https://josephsmithfoundation.org/aaron-brother-of-moses/)

4)     Brigham Young With a Medieval Halo

Those are pretty big indicators of BY’s prophetic status, but what about a small indicator? What about something meant just for one man with doubts? This story is from a young pioneer named Samuel Taylor Orton, and it involves a halo:

“Why was he out here pulling a handcart on this arduous journey to Zion? After thinking it through, Brother Orton made up his mind that “if the Father and the Son did appear to the Prophet Joseph Smith and reveal the gospel unto him, and Brigham Young was his lawful successor, I wanted to see the halo of light around his head, like there was around the head of the Savior on nearly all of the pictures we see.” He then put the experience from his mind and pulled his handcart the rest of the way to Salt Lake City.

“The Sabbath after he arrived in the valley, Brother Orton was sitting in the old bowery waiting for church services to begin. Looking around to see if there was anyone in attendance that he knew, he saw President Brigham Young walk in. As Brother Orton looked toward the stand, he instantly and distinctly “saw President Young with the rays of light around his head.” At that moment, the same voice that had spoken to him on the plains said, “Now, Sam, if ever you apostatize, here is your condemnation.” Brother Orton recorded, “I looked around me to see if the people heard it, but, I thought they did not.””  (http://www.ldsliving.com/5-Miraculous-Stories-from-the-Journals-of-Handcart-Pioneers/s/85915)

5)     Brigham Young Has a Vision and Hears Another Voice

In 1888 President Wilford Woodruff recounted the historic moment when President Young arrived at the mouth of Emigration Canyon: “When we came upon the bench, I turned the side of the vehicle to the west so that he could obtain a fair view of the valley. President Young arose from his bed and took a survey of the country before him for several minutes. He then said to me, ‘Drive on down into the valley, this is our abiding place. I have seen it before in vision. In this valley will be built the City of the Saints and the Temple of our God.’”

After descending the bench, President Young said later that, “[George A.] Smith came about 3 miles from [the City Creek] came to meet me [when I entered the valley]. ... I then pointed to a peak on the north and said, ‘I want to go up on that peak, for I feel fully satisfied that that was the point shown me in the vision, where the colors fell, and near which I was told to locate and build a city.’”

President Young arrived in the encampment at about noon and sometime during the day told men of the camp that “this was the place he had seen long since in vision; it was here he had seen the tent settling down from heaven and resting, and a voice said unto him: ‘Here is the place where my people Israel shall pitch their tents.” (https://searchisaiah.org/top-questions/pioneers-isaiah-prophecy/)

6)     Brigham Young Controlling the Weather

This happened twice. I wrote about it a while ago. Read more about it here.

7)     Brigham Young Crossed Over to the Other Side

Brigham Young had a near death experience. The details are not widely known, but he did make this statement to Willard Richards. It seemed to give him a lot of insight into the workings of the next life:

“As Mormon pioneers were crossing the plains, Brigham Young himself experienced two (and possibly more) near-death experiences.  On 17 February 1847, a seriously ill Brigham Young told his associate and fellow apostle Willard Richards,“I actually went into Eternity last Wednesday and came back again.”” (https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2018/10/two-near-death-experiences-from-early-latter-day-saint-history.html)

8)     Brigham Young’s Solution to (Some) Indian Slavery

Here is an interesting and terrifying account I’d never heard before. It has to do with slavery and (exceptionally) cold-blooded murder. It’s gets gruesome before it’s redeemed. You’ve been warned.

“One problem encountered by the Mormons in relation to the Indians was the rather extensive slave trade in the Great Basin. Various groups of Mexicans and Ute Indians circulated through the territory buying or stealing children of the weaker tribes for sale to Mexicans. Reputedly, each child would bring from one hundred to two hundred dollars and was condemned to a life-time of slavery in a Mexican village. The whole business was repulsive to the Mormons, but there was no easy solution, inasmuch as stopping the trade would suspend an important source of Indian revenue. The nature of the dilemma was illustrated during the winter of 1848-49 when a band referred to in contemporary literature as Cumumbah or Weber Utes came into the Salt Lake Valley desiring to trade. They had previously taken two girls about four and five years old as prisoners and wanted to sell them. When the Mormons declined, the enraged chief took one of the girls by the heels and dashed her brains out on the hard ground, “after which he threw the body towards us, telling us we had no hearts, or we would have bought it and saved its life.” Charles Decker, a young scout and brother-in-law of Brigham Young, moved quickly to prevent the same thing from happening to the other girl, and purchased her with his rifle and pony. He then took her to the home of Lorenzo Dow Young, a brother of Brigham, to be washed and clothed. John R. Young, son of Lorenzo, wrote:

“She was the saddest-looking piece of humanity I have ever seen. They had shingled her head with butcher knives and fire brands. All the fleshy parts of her body, legs, and arms had been hacked with knives, then fire brands had been stuck into the wounds. She was gaunt with hunger, and smeared from head to foot with blood and ashes. After being washed and clothed, she was given to President [Brigham] Young and became as one of his family. They named her Sally.

“After this experience Brigham Young encouraged his followers to adopt Indian children offered for sale…

“…in urging the legislature to pass an Indian slave act that would decree the stopping of the trade, Brigham Young “drew a fine distinction between actual slavery to the Mexicans and purchase by the Mormons,” insisting in the latter case that the Indians were being purchased into freedom instead of slavery.” (The Mormon Experience, Arrington P. 150-151)

These are just a few life-points, but they show that President Young really had a lot going on. His prophetic literary output did not compare to Joseph Smith’s. Who’s could?

He was hand picked for a very difficult job.

And he did everything he was asked.