The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1858-05-08
the MISUNDERSTANDING Fact.

mt the country. a W ashinSton correspon-
den. Of the Times, however, casts the fol-
lowing doubts upon the reliability OF the
statements of Loba, and we insert them as
= p,oper preface to the extended extracts
from the Loba statement which follow
7 have heard the opinion expressed in in
,eIlrcnt and well informed quarters here,
,h,t RI. statements of "DisguSted Nor
mon ;, contained in the letter of your spe-
eia, correspondent from Leavenworth, real
" emonated from Brigham Young himself,
and that I.oba. instead Of being an escaped
and disguised Saint, is secret agent oil
Brioham's whose mission is to disSuade the
Government, by deprecatinS the strength
and resources Of the Mormons, from send
ing out more forces against them. Inc ioea
is based on the supposItion that brlsham'
finding his braggadocia to have iaiied In us
object of deterring the Government from IN
terfering with HIM, is trying TINS new game
with a view to induce II not to reinforce
Gen. johnson. From what we know OF the
CHARACTERISED the Mormon leader and Pro-
phet the suggestion seems worthy OF con-
sideration.
Mr.. S,morton Of the New York Times is
now in Kansas, and while there encounter
ed one Frederick Loba, an ex-high priest of
the Mormons, and from him he obtained
much information respecting the Mormons.
We quote the following paragraphs from his
letter:
OF course, then, his testimony in regard
to the condition and resources OF the Nor
mons at Salt Lake is of especia! value, Tor no
man could be better qualified to speak intel
ligently of the facts, as they are. have
questioned him closely upon these points,
with the following result: lie says, unhes-
itatngiy, that the Mormons VIII not attempt
to resist the United States troops II they 20
out in a body, instead Of scattering along the
road in small careless parties, as did the gov
ernment wagon trains, which were destroy
ed upon the plains last season. Dir. Looa
met these on his way in, and earnestly eau
toned their conductors against their care
lessnesS, assuring them Of their danger, and
urging them to concentrate and move for
ward in body but they could see no en-
envy, nor apprehend any danger, failed t.
follow the friendly advice, and were cut oil
and robbed.
Mr.. Loba bases his positive opinion that
the Mormons viii make no attempt al organ
lied resistance upon his personal knowledge
oil
si>tance. They have very little ammunition
no runpowder factory, 10 material from
which to make the powder, none Of the APP
pIiances essential 70 that purpose, nor any
single man who knows how to make an
ounce Of explosive material, even II his life
dep,n,lvd upon il. Nor have they any art!l-
lery with the exception Of a single piece 81
cannon. two FOUNDER, one Of a pair given
them long since by the United States-the
other one having burst while Mr.. Lola was
in the Valley. My informant - a man OF
considerable military capacity, having been
an officer in the French service in the time
of Charles y. This fact becoming known,
on his arrival ut Salt Lake he was for long
time bcsought 10 accept military title and
position, which gave him ample opportun!-
ty Of ascer;aininc the military resources OF
the country and capacity OF its people lie
asserts that they have no military know
cd,e. even ifthev had aims; that their talk
about their battalions and regiments and Ie-
rious is the veriest humbuG imaginable;
and that their pretenceS OF the possession
Of abundant ornaments are falsehoods un-
mitigated. They have no iron from which
10 cast cannon-and if they had the materl-
al they have no foundry, nor any machine
~ for boring them, nor any mechanic COIN .
petent TO i O the work. True, there Is IN
abundance Of iron ore 800 miles or more
south Of Salt Lake City, bit It is highly
magnetic, and up TO the time whe.. M To-
ba left, although large sums had been sx-
pended in experimenting, all efforts TO melt
il down and render it fit for use had failed. I
Neither are the Mormons any better Oft in
the matter Of manufacturing SINAI. arms
They have some few gun-tiukers among
them : but, az an evidence Of their utter in !
competency, he mentions the fact that no
one Of them was able 10 make screw Tor .
him. TO replace one which he had lost from .
a revolver of peculiar construction.
Mr.. Lora estimates the total population oil !
the Valley at 30, 600 sous. OF these, count 4
ing eyerv male from 10 to &C years OF age, .
he estimates that there are MOTTO exceed ~ 1
800 capable of be"ring arms, while not more
that 300 Of tie whole number, in his opln .
ion. would MAKE even passable soldiers, I'M
der drilling by skilIiul men. Not one IN
ten Of the entire male population have hre-
arms o. any description; and large proper
ton of those they have are out OF repair and
worthless. He has no confidence In the
statement that the MOrmOns have fortified
Echo Canon, except it may be 10y digging
bitches and posing rocks to be rolled down
from ovcrhanging cliffs. Their boasts of +
thing he scouts as idle nonsense. In short
be considers the Mormons destitute of any
effective power Of resistance to even the
small force already under command of Gen.
johnson, and maintains that brigham
Young's entire reliance has been based up
on his hope Of being able to deter the nited 4
States from attempting to deal with him, by
living boasts Of his ability to wage success
full resistance. He believes that when Brig
ham finds his braggadocio has failed, and /
that the United States authorities are deter
mined to pursue him, he will have social
revelation from God" instructing him to re-
tire from before the Philistines. In obed
ence TO these directions he will go of with /
his $500 Dantes or Destroying Angels"
and, when the troops arrive at Salt Lake, |
will be found missing. They will probably |
60 northward to Vancouver's Island, or pos
sibly to the Russian Possessions, which |
they can do easier than go southwark to So |
nora, as they are without means of susie
nance while crossing the desert lying in that
direction. There is no probability that the |
" Saints" will retire in body thence, to sal |
iy in predatory bodies upon the Gentle |
troops or civil occupants OF the Valley
The Danitcs-weil fitted by experience and
wicked instincts for the life OF bauditti-,I
might take to the mountains; but the mass
es could not follow them there, because 1t
would be simply journey to starvation
and death. And for this very reason no
considerable body of the Danitcs will seek
the mountain life, because there they could
no longer live upon, the sweat and blood of
the toiling masses, while tithes and other
offerings have heretofore afforded to the
Mormon hierarchy and their ministers OF
depotism known as the Destroying An
gels" the support and means o. gratifying
their debasing tastes and passions.
TERRIBLE SACRIFICE OF LIFE.
Perhaps no single incident in connection
with Mormon history presents more of hor-
ror than the history of hand cart trains |