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A Mission To Utah.

The conductors of the American Home Missionary Society have long sought for a favorable opportunity to erect the gospel standard in Utah. Hitherto the difficulties in their way have been insurmountable. The “Gentile” portion of the population has been very small, and the fanatical violence and intolerance of the Mormons have been such that any public and organized efforts to propagate among them religious tenets contrary to their own, would have been hazardous and fruitless. These difficulties are now removed to such a degree that the Executive Committee have resolved to make the experiment. Before calling attention, however, to this undertaking, we desire to state a few of the leading facts in regard to this strange region, and the strange people by whom it is inhabited.

Physical Features of Utah.

Utah was originally a part of the Territory of Upper California, and was ceded to the United States by Mexico in 1848. It is situated west of Colorado, occupying the central part of the great basin of the continent between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, and embracing an area of 109,600 square miles. The largest portion of its surface is either mountain or desert, but between the spurs of the mountains are many beautiful and fertile valleys, sufficient to sustain a large population. The Wasatch range, a lofty spur of the Rocky Mountains, traverses the Territory from northeast to southwest, at the western base of which, on the bank of the Jordan, and twenty-two miles from Great Salt Lake, stands the capital of the territory, Great Salt Lake City.

Utah produces iron, salt, coal, and gold; but the people do not encourage mining. They consider agricultural pursuits more favorable to their “patriarchal institutions.” Stretching southward from the Great Salt Lake is a range of valleys, extending two hundred miles, in which the fruits and grains of the temperate zone are cultivated with success, and other tracts may be reclaimed from barrenness by means of irrigation.

The Mormon Community.

After the massacre of their Patriarch and Prophet at Nauvoo, Ill., in 1844, the Mormons determined to find a home so remote and inaccessible as to preclude the possibility of farther interference in the practice of their abominations. After a temporary sojourn in Western Iowa, Brigham Young, the new Prophet, in the spring of 1847, “marshalled his followers for that long and perilous flight through a wilderness of a thousand miles that lay between the confines of civilization and the home he had chosen for them in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. This terrible journey of an army of men, women, and children, incumbered with household stuff, beset with foes without in the Indians of the plains, weakened by pestilence and fever within, and suffering, sometimes starving, for want of food, was marked, from its beginning to its end, with the graves of the pilgrims. But the indomitable will of their leader, his unbounded influence over his followers, their unswerving belief that they were the chosen people of the Lord, and perhaps the conviction, enforced by years of persecution, that behind them, among their civilized countrymen, they should never find rest for the soles of their feet, sustained them through their long and painful journey, till at length they looked down from the summit of a mountain upon the gleaming beach of the Great Salt Lake, in the valley of which they were to find a resting place.”

Another and larger migration took place in the following year; and in 1849 a State Government was organized, under the name of Deseret. Congress refused to recognize it, but created in its stead a Territorial Government, and Brigham Young was appointed Governor in 1850. The population was, at that time, 11,380. In the following year the Federal courts were broken up by a mob, and the laws of the United States were openly defied. Young was thereupon deposed from office as Governor, but Col. Steptoe, who was appointed to succeed him, did not deem it prudent to assume the duties of the office. In 1856 another outbreak occurred, in which the United States court room was broken open by a mob, and Judge Drummond was obliged to adjourn his court. In the next year another Governor was appointed, and an army of 2,500 men was ordered to attend him for his protection and the enforcement of the laws. The history of this costly and disastrous expedition is doubtless familiar to our readers, and need not be recited. Peace was at length secured, in 1860, through the negotiation of Col. Kane, of Philadelphia, and the army was withdrawn. The population of the Territory, in that year, was 40,273. Since that time the Federal laws have been generally enforced, protection has been enjoyed by all residents, the mineral and other resources of the Territory have been developed, and the Gentile population has rapidly increased.

It has hitherto been deemed impracticable to establish the institutions of evangelical religion in Utah. The people were, with few exceptions, of the Mormon faith, burning with resentment towards their former persecutors, and determined to resist the invasion of all “Gentile” sects. The first attempt, so far as we are informed, to carry the sword of the Spirit into the stronghold of this self-styled Lion of the Lord, has been made by the American Home Missionary Society.

Reconnaissance of the Territory.

During the last summer a reconnaissance of this and the adjacent Territories was made, under the auspices of this Society, by President Blanchard, of Wheaton College, Illinois. The facts gathered by him, and by Samuel Holmes, Esq., of New York, who visited the Territory at about the same time, not only impressed the Committee with the importance of occupying this field, but afforded unexpected encouragement to undertake the enterprise at once. Pres. Blanchard says: “Salt Lake City has 20,000 inhabitants without religious teaching, except the ribald babbling of Mormons. Children are growing up without Sabbath schools, and there are not one hundred decent books in the whole Territory, for which Hon. John D. Kinney, in his late Washington speech, claims a population of 100,000. If the Gospel is preached in the whole Territory, I do not know where; I do know that there are none but Mormon meetings in Great Salt Lake City, which represents the Territory as its metropolis. Brigham Young, the Chief Priest, is building a new theater here, 148 by 88 feet, and 50 feet high—a fact which indicates the moral condition of the multitudes swarming in these desert regions. In the best, and kindest, and most intelligent family I have been in, seven bright children were growing up without the Word of God. A piece of an old Bible is all that this wealthy family possess.”

Gen. P. E. Conner, the commander of the Federal forces in Utah, expressed a deep interest in the establishment of a mission there, and generously proffered in its behalf his personal cooperation, and the protection of the forces under his command. In a communication dated Oct. 25th, 1864, he says:

“The present Gentile population of Salt Lake City numbers, perhaps, from four to five hundred, including many families. This class is increasing very rapidly; and without being too sanguine, I feel justified in saying that, in another twelve months, the permanent Gentile population will number not less than two thousand. Already a large portion of the business community is composed of Gentiles; and the country and trade being opened up here, in the heart of the continent, are attracting hither capital, enterprise, and ability. The development of the silver mines in near proximity to the city is progressing with wonderful energy and rapidity; and there is now, adjoining the mines in Rush Valley, a town of no less than forty comfortable houses already erected. Most of these are tenanted by families who are almost exclusively Gentiles. The great want, however, which has long been sorely felt by the Gentiles in this Territory, has been and still is, an Orthodox christian ministry. Now, they have no place to attend on the Sabbath for public worship, nor are the restraining and humanizing influences of the christian religion thrown around the community. To me it has long been a source of no little surprise that, while the several denominations of the church send their missionaries to the ‘uttermost parts of the earth’ to redeem mankind, it has never been seriously thought that here, between either verge of this great continent, is to be found the grandest field for missionary labor. Leaving out of view, entirely, the wants and religious necessities of the soldiers of this command, and Gentiles congregated here, the Mormon people themselves have greater need of missionary labor than any other people or community on the face of the earth.”

“Without expressing a preference for any sect or division of the church, I would, in common with hundreds, soon to be augmented to thousands, of my fellow-citizens here, hail the coming of a ‘man of God’ to teach Christ and him crucified in this community. So long, at least, as the troops remain here, freedom of opinion and the expression of it, in its broadest American sense, will be protected, and a church could be established here without any apprehension of interference from the Mormon authorities.”

A Mission Commenced.

Thus Providence opened the door before us, and it seemed important to enter it without delay. But whom should we send? The laborers, especially those adapted to such a work, were few. Winter had arrived. The overland route was infested by hostile Indians. In these circumstances it seemed imperative that we should rob one outpost in order to man another still more important. Rev. Norman McLeod, who had been recently stationed at Denver, the capital of Colorado Territory, was instructed, by telegraph, to proceed to Great Salt Lake City, and erect the gospel standard there. He arrived in that city, January 16th, and met an enthusiastic reception. The Daily Union Vedette, a paper published by the officers and soldiers at Camp Douglas, welcomes his arrival in the following terms: “For a long time, perhaps the greatest want seriously felt by residents and sojourners in this vicinity, has been that we have had in all this wide Territory no minister of the Gospel to preach the Word of the living God. Gentlemen deeply interested in the welfare of Utah have long been endeavoring to obtain the services of a preacher and a hall where the people on the Sabbath might listen to something different from Tabernacle harangues. We are gratified to be able to announce that these praiseworthy exertions have at last been crowned with success. The Eastern stage, which reached here on Monday night, brought to our city the Rev. Norman McLeod, who proposes to organize here a congregation for divine worship. Mr. McLeod has been stationed at Denver City, Colorado Territory, where he organized a church which is now prospering. It is not doubted that his zealous efforts in behalf of Christianity will be warmly seconded by the American and loyal citizens of Salt Lake, and that ere long we will boast a thriving church and congregation.”

The Mormons might have thrown a serious obstacle in the way of this enterprise, had not Providence kindly deprived them of the power. They would, of course, have refused the use of any public hall as a place of worship for a christian congregation; but the Young Men’s Literary Association, having previously leased the most eligible hall in the city, kindly opened it for that purpose. The inauguration of this movement is thus noticed by the Vedette: “Sunday, January 22d, 1865, will ever be a memorable day in Utah. If we mistake not, when the anniversaries of battles, of bloody fields and heroic struggles shall have been forgotten, yesterday will be remembered with praise and thanksgiving. It was indeed the dawn of a new era, and an important step towards civilization and the advancement of the people was taken.”

“In the hall of the Young Men’s Literary Association of Great Salt Lake City, a christian congregation was organized by Rev. Norman McLeod. The hall was more than crowded, and many were unable to obtain seats. At 11 o’clock a most impressive sermon was delivered from the text, ‘Can any good come out of Nazareth? Come and see.’ Rarely have we listened to a more argumentative or eloquent discourse. The purity of diction, the soundness of views, the breadth of argument, and the extent of christian charity exhibited, spoke alike for the head and heart of the preacher. It was a novel thing to hear the word of the living God proclaimed in Utah—to hear the preacher lift up his voice in behalf of our country, and teach Christ and him crucified. We were gratified to see that the large congregation was not entirely composed of so-called ‘Gentiles,’ but many of the Saints were present. To them as to others the words of the preacher were adapted. ‘Come and see.'”

We congratulate the friends of Home Missions that God has thus granted us the privilege of setting up the standard of evangelical truth at the center of Mormon corruption and delusion. We would not attempt, however, to forecast the issue of this experiment. It will of course encounter the bitter opposition of these fanatics—the enemies alike of our Government and our religion. But, assuredly, Utah is in the “uttermost parts of the earth” which are given to Christ for his possession. By the preaching of his Gospel, that system of abominations which has so long disgraced our land and age, is to be brought to naught. Let all who pray for the peace of Jerusalem unite their supplications that the seed sown in that stubborn soil may yield an abundant increase till, over all those deserts and mountains, “THE FRUIT THEREOF SHALL SHAKE LIKE LEBANON.”