Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-05-04
The Mormons-Escape of an ex-Hfgh
Priest.

The HTormons-Escape of an ex-Hfgh
! Priest.
! A correspondent of the New York Times,
| writing from Fort Leavenwortb, Kansas, I'M
der date of the 10Th ult., announces the ar
rival there of Mr.. FREDERICK LOBA, an ex-
High Priest of the Mormons, who escaped
recently from Salt Lake city. with bis family.
Mr.. LoBA is native of Switzerland, and is
represented to be a man Of great intelligence
and liberal education, an accomplished lin
guist, and possessing rare conversational pow
ers. He has travelled over and is familiar
with every part of Europe, was distinguished
in his own land and in Russia for his scientific
attachments. and was formerly a prominent
official in his native town of Lausanne. But
notwithstanding all this he became victim
to the strange delusion of Mormonism and
attested his sincerity by forsaking his high,
honorable and Independent position at home,
and iourneying with his family to Salt Lake
| in 1854 in the confident expectation to find
there the Zion of God towards which his cul-
tivated enthusiasm and intense religious zeal
had turned with the highest and hottest aspi-
rations. Finding Mormonism a gross impos-
| ture. and disguised with the beastly sensuality
| of its leaders, he took the first opportunity
| to escape from its headquarters. He had,
| however. in the position of High Priest which
he held, ample opportunity to ascertain the
| full strength of the Mormons, and is of the
opinion that they cannot muster over 1900
men, not more than 1000 of whom are capa-
BILE of bearing arms. None of them are sol
diers of any efficiency, there being but one
| cannon in the territory and but few arms of
any description no iron, and no foundries
He docs not believe that any opposition will
be made to the entrance Of Col. JOHNSTON and
the United States troops into the city, but
that the Mormons will retire so soon as they
arrive
The correspondent of the Times gives the
following details of the sufIerngs of Mormons
on their way to Salt Lake, &c, furnished by
Mr.. LoBA:
Perhaps no single incident in connection
with Mormon history presents more horror,
than the history of hand cart trains, which
YOU may remember was painted in such glow
rics whose harrangnes | reported at one of
their meetings in New York last Summer
| asked Mr.. Loba To give me an unvarnished
l statement of the facts-tor ii was evident
| from the story told by the Mormons them
selves that they were hiding important de-
| tails which would not bear discovery. 1t APP
pears that Young sent Franklin and Samuel
| ID. Richards-two of his shrewdest and most
INSCRIPTIONS minions-to Liverpool, to su-
perintend the emigration thence to Salt Lake
| of the numerous proselytes made in Europe.
| These men collected a large sum of money
| from the faithful, in sums of ESQ each, which
| was to purchase wagons and other outfit for
| the passage from New York to Utah-each
| sum of c53 providing for a family-or if the
| man had none, for himself and associates. A
| party of about $500 souls collected under
this arrangement, set sail with their faces to-
ward Zion On their arrival on the from
| tier they were informed that Brother Brig
ham had received "a relevatiOn from God, di-
recting that in order to try their faith and
| thus test who among them were worthy the
honors of the faithful they should journey to
Salt Lake in hand cart trains!
Accordingly, their pilots aud leaders-fll-
ed with the grace acquired at the feet of their
Prophet Brigham kindly purchased the
hand-carts for them at a cost of eight dollars
each, and generously put them at the dispo-
| sal of the newly-arrived brethren at exactly
that sum. tsf course the entire party were
compelled to go on foot, six to each hand
cart, which they dragged along with its con-
tents consisting OF seventeen pounds of lug
gage 10 each person. All the property of the
emigrants over aud above this, they were
compelled to throw away, of course-thus
losing the little remnant of their savings after
having been most religiously robbed of all
their cash. Few dissensions rose among
them, and the result was that they did not
reach the banks of the Missouri, from whence
to start westward until the first ofSeptember.
Here. then, they stood, with twelve hun
ired miles Of weary travel on foot before
them, and the merciless rigors of "A Northern
] Winter staring them in the face. The com
| monest humanity would have inspired the
leaders of the deluded band to stay their
steps until the opening Spring. Bat they
seem To have been obiivious To any
such sentiment. They got up another
revelation from on high, and assured them
that the angels OF the Lord would be upon
their right hand aud upon their lcft, shield
ing them from harm, providing them susten-
ance aud protection, and conducting them
rejoicing into the valleys of the mountains,
where dwclt the glories OF Israels God.
Thus twenty-five hundred honest simple
souls, full of honest faith and zeal-old men
aud yonng. gentle women and tender chill
drea, planged into the wilderness. never
/. uouhtiuS the result Sii 10 relate, OF ltlal
/ entire baud two hundred frost-bitten, star
wing and emaciated beings, lived TO tell the
story of their sufieringsi Mr.. Lola, himself
witnessed the entrance OF the survivors
many of whom were compelled 10 submit C
the rudest king OF surgery for the ampuia
ton of limbs already frozen to death. Twenty
three hundred of the devoted band had fallen
] By the way. tortured yierins of hunger and
| cold, SOME OF them indeed torn by furnished
wolves, while life still struggled for victory
over Punishment and frostl The picture !.
| too horrible 10 eontemplate-bat my infor
| mant states that It's truth Is well attested bS
| many persons who soon after passed over th'
scene of this march OF death, aud found i
| strewn with thousands Of CHASTITY human
skeleionsi lie says. too. that among the In
| diaa tribes Of Utah white children are nov
/ living, vino were picked up from the SNOW
| By the savages. and thus rescued from tbs
death which their parents had failed 20 -
cape.
| Mr.. Loba well asks whether ID Is not the
| province of Government 10 take notice o
such events a. these, and essay an effort q
| prevent their recurrence. IL was far from
| safe, however, 90 suggest such aa idea in Salt
Lake City. A London friend Of Mr. LIS
NAMED Jarvis, stung % the quick at sight O
the miserable remnant of the hand-cari i'm
migration, remarked, that IL such an event