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LIFE AND HISTORY OF PHINEAS W. COOK |
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| Section 11 Run in with Indians We found on our arrival at Manti city all of Walkers and Aropeans bands of Utah Indians numbering from 3 to 4 hundred souls, the day after a little fray took place which came near exciting a war, one of the band by the name of Ammon stole a few potatoes from Joseph S. Alen. he was angry with him and struck him and knocked him down with his fist This made them all mad and they wanted to fight and they ware prepareing for it by sharpening their knives and arrows on every sand stone that could be found, but a council was called and they ware pasified by giving them an ox which belonged to Brother Alen I went to work and put up a stone cabin and got my family into it After I had made my business known to the people I sat to work as fast as I could geting out timber in the Kenyon, with one man to help me by the name of Wm Black, we got the timber out and then the brethren turned out and helped to haul it and frame it the frame was partly up as we bought a place in the mouth of the kenyon at Manti whare thare had been shingles made we gave $350. 00 for it. I got the mill runing so that we could grind without bolting the 25th day of December. I kept at work and ground the grain as fast as it came I worked early and late to accomplish my mision. I soon got the bolt to going, and then I was calld on to build a sawmill for Charles Shumway I gave him his bills of timber and lumber and plan for his frame work he wanted me to put the frame together but I was counciled to let it alone for father Morley said I had all that my strength could bear up under. So that part I did not do but after that was done I went and put in the gearing for him, it was a good mill and run well and cut fast and strong After we got it done Brother Shumway proposed that I should put my horse in with his and go with him to Salt Lake City promising me if I would he would pay me $50 in money towards my labor on the mill to which I agreed accordingly in a few days we started, on our arrival thare he wanted me to go blind man Leonards, who had furnished him with his mill irons he wanted me for a witness, He told Leonard that he had expended over a thousand dollars in laber and if he would pay him $100 in money and an order on Thomas Williams Store he should own one half of the mill and have one half of the income from that time on which he did, his wife wrote an order on Brigham Young for the money and he promised that as soon as Williams goods came on he should have the ammount proposed, Shumway gave me the order with a request for me to go and get the money, I accordingly did. Brother Young took the order and went down to Livingstons store and borrowd the money and gave it to me I carried it to Shumway and gave him one half of it which was $50 and asked him if that was right he said it was, We then went to a store and done some trading and then went home, On our way home Shumway talked considerable against his wife Louisa and said he had good reason to think she was a whore, before he was married to her, and he had little or no confidence in her for that reason, In answer to which I said I thought if it was even so he had confidance enough in her to marry her and I thought he now aught to sustain her she had no doubt repented of it and wished to do right and he aught to encourage her and save her if possible, He did not seem to like my sayings much, and manifested quite a different spirit after, for in a day or two one of his horses gave out or nearly so, and he took him out of the harness and put mine in his place, and tied his to the near side, his horse had his right eye put out and he kept turning his head to see what he was going to do with him Shumway became enraged at him and beat him most unmercifuly which made my heart ache for the poor animal at last I spoke to him and asked him to stop for sals I he is blind in that eye and he owlny wanted to see what you was going to do. He said he did not care he had got to mind or he would kill him and kept beating away till at last I told him if he did not stop I would take my horse out of his team and would not go any further with him, finely he stopt whiping him and said he guesst he knew what he was doing and seemed to be quite angry at me for interfering with his matters. I said I took his wifes part and his horses part and I did not wish to hurt his feelings by doing so if I had I could not help it for I thought it was my duty to do so, After that he appeard cold and very independent, It was a long time before he appeared as formerly, and when I met him about two years after he shook hands with me and asked me if I had not been his enemy I told him I had not I had always wished him well. He owed me more than the $50 which he paid me, and I had some logs drawd to the mill and he had agreed to have them sawd but he put it off a long time and in the winter he went to the legislature and left a man by the name of Geo Pectot to attend to his mill and he commenced sawing for me in the mean time Father Morley had told me that he wanted me to see to it myself, so I told Pectot of it and he said then he would leave the mill in my care and go about his own business. I said he could do as he thought proper, so he left me to sawing my logs, so I stuck to it night and day till I got done, thare was 6793 feet of the lumber When he came home he found my logs all sawed out and he was angry about it for he said he intended to have them logs sawed on shares (although he had promised to take his pay in flour) In a few days Brother B. Young came to San Pete and I made him acquainted with the affair and he did not like the way he had treated him he said he had helped him into a mill and if that was the way he was to get pay he would soon help him out. In a few days Shumway came to me and asked me if I had told Brigham of our deal about the sawing of the lumber I told him I had, he seemd in a great rage about it and tolld me many things that ware vary disagreable and hard to bare but I did not get out of temper but let him go on and say what he had to say and then he seemd to feel a little better but I did not feel vary well at what he had said but it passt off until we met as above stated Our journey to the city took place in June 1851 I had a good long talk with Brother B Young he told me many good things, among which was that the oldest in the priesthood held the birthright he also told told me if I would take his council for five years, I should be rich I told him I did not know how I could ever get rich for I could not keep anything for I was too fond of giving it away Well sais he you shall have as much as you want to do good withs I promised him I would so I determined in my mind to set a double watch over myself to do it although I had always done it to the best of my abilities, and he had never found any fault with me. After I got home I tended the grist mill three days in the week the rest of the time I worked on my crop and some at my trade, about the 6th or 7th a young man by the name of Jerome Bradley was taken sick vomiting and perging he was sich about 7 or 8 days and died, he was a good young man, he wanted Mary Shumway the daughter of the same above mentioned her father was greatly opposed to the match and said many hard things such as was not common for men to say when their children wanted to get those they were attached to but on his death bed he asked Shumway if he was willing for him to have Mary, he said yes Jerome sais now Mary, this has been kept from the people but now I will tell it. that is you and I are promised to each other are you willing to be sealed to a good man for time and to me for eternity. She said yes! he then blest her and gave her good council and then he done the same by all present, he was ordained an elder by the president of the elders quorum by Brother Stephen Taylor he then said he had done his work and was ready to go. he said no more but died the next day. It was a gloomy time for sorrow was in every coun-tinance, Mary Shumway was living with us, at work by the weak, and an Indian came in one day and wanted to sell some servis berries for flour Ann Eliza offered him all they ware worth, which he wanted but was not willing to give her his berries She told him then he should not have the flour at which he began to throw it about with his hands to iritate her She told him not to handle the flour unless he would buy it, he began to be vary saucy and threatened them, Ann Eliza ran for help to the neighbors but there was no man about, by this time Mary had succeeded in geting him out doors he got hold of her hand and drawd her wrist across the corner of the door post which hurt her considerable, He then stept to the window and pointed his gun at them through a broken glass they all took hold of his gun and tried to pull it but could not Mary then got my gun and pointed it at him he then got hold of it and tried to get it away from them they then began to hollow for help and he took to his heels for safety the next day he came into the mill Wm Duncan a boy that was with me (as before stated) he told me that that was the one that was at my house, I stpet up to him and told him he was not good and I wanted him to leave he said he would not I then took a birch stick about an inch through and told him if he did not go I would hit him with it once and it broke into three pieces so that it hurt him little or none, I then struck at him with my fist, but hit him with the end of my thumb and put the big joint out of place and it was lame for three months or more but I ownly got him out of the mill and he did not like to go any further but I told him to go away at the same time showing my six shooter he then said "Irick" which means quit and he would go so he went off although I did not calculate to shoot him I ownly wanted to let him know that I was ready for him, he then went off but it was not long before one of his brothers came up from the camp and wanted me to come down thare for I must give him two oxen, I told them I had no time to spare, I could not leave the mill I told him tfaMMlRn had abused my family and I wanted to let him know that I did not like it for I never came to their houses when they ware gone and abused their families and when I did they might whip me for it When they found they could not get me to come to their terms they went for father Morley and told him that the Indian was nearly dead and I must give him two oxen for it, He told them I had no oxen to give, and the Indian had mistreated my family and he was in the wrong and he must settle with me but he had better take care of himself, When I found they had been to the camp I asked what the spirit of the times ware, they told me that I must take care of myself for they would kill me if they could get the chance That morning I started for the mill as usual and stopt at Father Morleys as I went along he asked me if I was going to the mill, I told him I had started for that purpose he told me he thought I had not better go for he thought the Indians wanted to kill me I said I was not affraid of them atall well he said you can do as you like I dont know as they will hurt you, Now I was ashamed to be calld a cowerd, and I thought I would risk it, so I started I had not gone far before the thought came into my mind that if they did kill me it would be said I had not obeyed council, a thing that I had not deviated from, and I would not now do it if I was calld a coward, so I changed my mind and my coarse and went and hired Jerome Rimpton to go in my place and I went and worked in the harvest field for him while he tended mill About 10 o'clock that day there was four marched up in front of the mill and supposed I was thare as usual but they soon found it was not me but they said it was my brother and they did not attempt to harm him, any except the one that I had the fuss with he crept around back of the mill for the purpose of shooting him through the window but being seen by a friendly indian he told him of it and when he found he was in danger he stopt the mill and went home, and said he was not going to stay thare to be shot at. This no doubt was a narrow escape for me, but the still small voice of the Lord directed me and I followed its dictates and by this means my life was preserved. The day before three of the same ones came into the mill to shoot me with their bows and arrows but I did not know what their erand was until James T. S. Allred told me (he being presant) he said when they came in, thare, they told me they was coming up to kill you and now they have come so now you must take care of yourself do you see how many arrows they have got! But I did not heed what he said but stept forward and met them and asked them what they wanted they answered nothing I then told them I did not want anything of them ownly they must go out of the mill quickly. At which they all turned around and walked off and did not offer to harm me atall. the reason which I assign for that is I had the Spirit of the Lord upon me and they ware filld with fear, so much so that they seemd nearly paralized and ownly seemd to have power over any part of their bodies but their feet which ware used to good advantage to help them off. Now after mature reflection on this matter, I am inclined to think that in the onset I was unwise for if I had not paid any attention to him it would no doubt have passt off and they would not have endangered my life of the lives of others, but the Lord saw fit in his mercy to look over my folly and deliverd me out of their hands at least two differant times, and I have no doubt many other times I carried my gun nearly always after that while the mill was in my care least some stragling indian might be lurking about to seek my life, but Thanks be to my father in heaven and his angels I was saved from all their wrath and bloodthirsty revenge. Sometime in the course of the fall Aropean his chief sent him to me to make peace which I did and gave him some bread he was pleased and said he would always be my tick a boo (that is friend) |
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