looked like a knapsack. At first she was a little afraid of him, but when he spoke to her in a kind, friendly tone and began to explain to her the nature of the work that was going on in her house, she was filled with inexpressible joy and satisfaction. He then untied his knapsack and showed her a bundle of plates, which in size and appearance corresponded with the description subsequently given by the witnesses to the Book of Mormon. This strange

person turned the leaves of the book of plates over, leaf after leaf, and also showed her the engravings upon them; after which he told her to be patient and faithful in bearing her burden a little longer, promising that if she would do so, she should be blessed; and her reward would be sure, if she proved faithful to the end. The personage then suddenly vanished with the plates, and where he went, she could not tell. From that moment my grandmother was enabled to perform her household duties with comparative ease, and she felt no more inclination to murmur because her lot was hard. I knew my grandmother to be a good, noble and truthful woman, and I have not the least doubt of her statement in regard to seeing the plates, being strictly true. She was a strong believer in the Book of Mormon until the day of her death."

LESSON XX.

Chapter 20. Young Folk's History of the Church.

M. ISABELLA HORNE.

Agreeable to your request, I will endeavor to give a few items of my experience in the pioneer days which I trust will be of interest and profit to your readers.

When we left Winter Quarters, in June, 1847, and commenced our journey to the Rocky Mountains, our family consisted of Mr. Horne, myself and four children, one of whom had been born since we left our home in Nauvoo. We also brought a man and his wife with us, he driving one of the teams. We had three wagons, with two yoke of oxen to each, which contained farming imple

ments, seed-grain, cooking utensils, a few necessary dishes, etc., clothing, and provisions that must last eight people for at least eighteen months; we also brought a small cooking stove, a very rare article in the pioneer camps, and a small rocking chair. This was all the household furniture it was possible to bring.

They While

I will not take space in your valuable paper to enter into details of that never-to-be-forgotten journey, but will merely mention a few incidents that may be of interest. While traveling along the Platte River. a large band of Indians were camped on the opposite side. Many of them, men, women and children, swam across the river, and President John Taylor invited Mr. Horne and me to go with himself and wife to meet them. wanted to trade buffalo robes for corn and provisions. trading, one of the Indians took a fancy to my baby girl and wanted me to trade her for a pony. When I refused he brought another pony, and still another, until finally he went to get the fourth one, and seemed so determined to have her that I was afraid he would steal her from my arms. Just at this time the rest of our company came up. While the brethren were trading with the Indian men, the squaws and children were going among our wagons, stealing cooking utensils or anything else they could get hold of, so that when we camped that night many useful articles were missing.

On another occasion, while still on the Platte river, we were called up in the middle of the night as thousands of buffalo were crossing the river, heading straight for the camp. The splashing and bellowing were terrible to hear. We were in great danger, as buffalo were never known to stop for anything when traveling in such large numbers; it appeared as though they would destroy the camp, but suddenly they altered their course and went further down the river.

On another occasion when we were in the Black Hills, a large band of Indians placed themselves directly across our path, and would not allow us to pass; they demanded corn, sugar, and coffee. Some of the brethren went through the camn and collected as much as possible from our meagre supply, which the Indians accepted, and made no further trouble. When our company arrived at what was then called the Sweetwater, which was east of Green River, we met President Young and a majority of the pioneers, returning to Winter Quarters for their families. Bishop Hunter and Brother John Taylor, who were in charge of our company, suggested a feast be made in honor of the pioneers. A nice fat steer was bought from Bishop Hunter, the dishes were unpacked, and the sisters did the best possible to prepare a dinner worthy of the occasion. This was performed under difficulties, as it was snowing heavily, although only September, which made camp-cooking quite a task. The storm passed before dinner, and

the brethren cleared away the brush and improvised a rude table, and I can assure you we had a feast indeed, spiritual as well as temporal. The food remaining was given to the pioneers to help them on their journey.

We arrived in Salt Lake valley in the evening of October 6th, 1847. From the mouth of the canyon we traveled in the dark, having no guide but the flickering light of the camp fires on Pioneer Square. Our tent was soon pitched,and we felt thankful to our Heavenly Father for preserving us on our long and arduous journey of four months, and that we had arrived at a place of rest. We lived in a tent until logs could be obtained from the canyon for a house. It must be remembered that at that early day there were no saw mills; the saw-pits were the only means of obtaining lumber. These were made by digging a trench ten feet long and five feet deep, above which trestles were built. The log to be sawed was laid on these trestles. One man stood on the top of the log and another in the pit, and pulled the saw up and down. You can readily imagine that with this slow process it was a long time before we could have board floors in our houses. When we moved into our little two-roomed house there were neither floors nor doors.. We had brought two small windows with us. Of course we had no furniture, so we had to manufacture some the best we could. Our bedstead was made in one corner of the room by boring holes in the logs of the house about six feet from the corner on one side, four feet on the other and two feet from the floor, into which the ends of poles were inserted; the other ends being fastened to a post set in the ground. Wooden pegs were driven in these poles and the logs of the house at regular intervals, on which strips of rawhide were stretched, crossing from side to side and head to foot. This formed quite a comfortable spring mattress, upon which the bedding was placed. Our cupboard was made by placing a large packing box on its side upon some brackets made by fastening short poles in the walls. Shelves were put in, and these as well as other packing boxes which were brought into use as toilet table, etc., were draped with calico curtains. Tables and stools were formed from poles and boxes. These with the little wooden rocker and cook stove completed our house furnishings. Our candle was a little grease in a saucer with a twisted rag in it. I put some lamp black and yellow ochre into a little skim milk I obtained from a neighbor, and stained our door and window frames, using a rag for a brush, which made them look more homelike and saved considerable scrubbing. We had succeeded in arranging things quite comfortably when a cloud burst up City Creek canyon and the water came rushing down covering our floor an inch or two deep. Our provisions were our first care. They must be kept dry, and used sparingly. Our rations were weighed out

for a week, so much and no more.

Segoes and wild parsnips were gathered and used as food. We did not have milk; members of the company had lost some of their oxen while crossing the plains, and our cows had been used in their place. Graham gruel without milk or sugar was used for breakfast and supper.

The weather continued fine until March, 1848, when a storm came on and we had rain, snow and sleet continually for ten days. Our house being covered only with poles, grass and earth, it continued to rain in the house after it was fine outside. Wagon covers were fastened nearly to the roof over the head of the bed, A

sloping to the foot to shed the water and keep the bed dry. large piece of table oil cloth was tacked up over the table while we ate our meals, and it was no uncommon thing to see a woman holding an umbrella over her while attending to her household duties. The Fort presented quite a ludicrous appearance when the weather cleared up. In whatever direction one looked, bedding and clothing of all descriptions were hanging out to dry.

One of the greatest sources of trouble and inconvenience were the mice. The ground was full of them. They ran over us in our beds, ate into our boxes, and destroyed much valuable clothing. Various kinds of mousetraps were devised, but relief was obtained only after securing a kitten from the only family of cats in the camp.

Early in the spring a man came into the valley from California with some pack animals, and brought some potatoes Mr. Horne paid him fifty cents for four potaties about as large as a hen's egg, from which he raised over a bushel of fine potatoes. But we could not eat them. They must be saved for seed. During that year quite a variety of good vegetables was raised. The melons, pumpkin and squash were very sweet. I made cornstalk molasses in my wash boiler, also melon preserves and pumpkin sauce by boiling the juice of the melons to syrup and thickening with squash or pumpkin. We had beets, turnips, carrots and onions in the garden, and as we had been without vegetables for nearly three years, I thought I had never eaten anthing so good. Our sugar was all gone, but about this time a man brought some in from California. I had waited with others for an hour and a half to get into the house where it was, and then could only have one pound of brown sugar, for which I paid one dollar.

Now came the trial of our faith. We were using our last sack of flour, with the prospect of a fairly good harvest, when great, black crickets covered the grain and it appeared as though all would be destroyed. We were seven hundred miles from the western coast and one thousand miles from the source of supplies in the east, and the prospect was disheartening. Men, women and children turned out to fight the crickets, but nothing we could

do seemed to stay their progress. I can truly say that during these critical times my faith that our Heavenly Father would send deliverance never wavered. In their extremity the Saints united in calling upon the Lord in mighty faith, and He came to the rescue by sending large flocks of seagulls to devour the crickets and save us from starvation. It was one of the greatest miracles of this dispensation.

When the grain was harvested our troubles were not yet over. There were no threshing machines nor grist mills, and various methods were adopted to get the grain threshed and cleaned. Some used flails, made after the old English patterns, others would place wagon covers on the ground, put the grain upon them, and have the horses and oxen tread it. The winnowing or cleaning was done by placing the wagon covers on the ground on a windy day, and pouring the grain down upon them by bucketfulls from quite an elevation. As it fell the wind blew out the chaff and the grain would be comparatively clean. There was a handmill for grinding the wheat, but of course it was not ground very fine. Sister Leonora Taylor, wife of President John Taylor, had a piece of bolting cloth about a foot and a half or two feet square, which she tacked on to a rough frame made by one of the brethren, and that answered the purpose of a sieve, which went the rounds of the Fort when people were anxious to have a little fine flour for some special purpose. One of our greatest difficulties was to find. material from which to make soap. We burnt sagebrush and took the ashes to make lye, but it was almost impossible to get grease enough to make the soap, as the cattle were so very poor.

After the harvesting was over Brother Taylor proposed that we hold a grand harvest feast of thanksgiving and praise to God for His blessing and protection over us in these valleys. A committee of arrangements was appointed. Our brethren built a large bowery, which was decorated with sheaves of wheat, oats and barley, bundles of corn and green branches. Tables were set the full length of the bowery. They were decorated with bunches of all kinds of vegetables that had been raised, also a few flowers, and made a nice appearance. Our cattle had fattened up by that time, so that we had good heef, which was prepared in a variety of ways, and with our good vegetables, home-made molasses and preserves, 1 believe I was as proud of our tables and the food on that occasion as I have been at any subsequent time under more favorable surroundings. Several of the Apostles and other leading authorities of the Church were present, songs were sung, short speeches were made, and a happy spirit prevailed.

Many little incidents occur to my mind when reflecting upon these early experiences, but I do not desire to weary your readers. I trust these little items of history may be satisfactory to you.— Young Woman's Journal.