Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-07-30
The Life and Miracles Of Jacob Hamb-
lin Among the Indians Of
Utah Territory.
His Personal Experiences-A Wonder
fal Career, More Fascinating
Than Any Fiction.
s.,,1... cor,espondenoe New York world.

only seen at q distance lying like dark clouds
upon the billsides and black drifts in the
gulches. The wild flowers growing under
these CEDAR and the pines which are
sprinkled among them) are of new varie-
ties 10 ME, and / enjoyed a five-lnile
walk in this novel vegetation immensely.
A few years ago, though, 4Mr. In
dian" would have made himself too in
teresting to travellers for men to go wander
sng about among the cedars picking posies.
' They would have found those "arrows tipped
with Jasper" which are 30 picturesque in
| 'Hiawatha,n flying about instead of hum
ming birds tipped with emerald, and toma-
: hawk hurting through the bushes would
/. have been more likely to excite remark than
| the blue m gpies which / saw looking up
snails. This district was until very recently
{ a favorite hunting-ground of those Indians
e of whom old J acob Hamblin was the Nestor-
the guide, philosoper, friend and victim.
One day they would try 10 fill his akin full
: Of arrows; ON the next they would be round
asking him to make rain-medicine. They
/; would talk Mormonism all day and grunt
n | approvingly; as coon as night fell they
would steal his horse. He was always
patching up peace between this tribe and
that; yet every now and then they would
J catch him, and, being unable TO decide
whether he should be simply fayed, or be
roasted first over charcoal FIRE, would let
him 60 with provisions and an escort for his
home journey.
His life indeed, was 30 wopderful-much
more fascinating than any fction-that
, am not surprised at him believing as he does
that he is under the special protection of
Heaven, and, as he says, in private cove
nant with the Almighty that, ''f he does not
thirst for The blood of the Lamanites, his
blood shall never be shed by them" He be-
gan lite as a farmer near Chicago, but being
baptized received at once "the immediate
gift Of the Holy Ghost" and at once entered
upon a career Of miracles" and prophecies"
that when told in serious earnest are sniff
cient to stagger Spiritualist, or even Koot
Hoomi himself He cured his neighbors OF
deadly ailments by the laying ON OF hands,
and foretold conversions, deaths and other
events with unvarying accuracy. By pro-
longed private meditation he enjoyed what
from his description must be a pregustation
of the Buddhistic Nirvana, and after this
miracles became quite commonplace with
him. He witnessed the miracle OF the
great quail flights into the camps OF the fugi- |
| tives and starving saints in 1916, and helped |
| to collect the birds and to eat them; he saw |
also the miraculous" fights OF sesgulls that |
i rescued the Mormons from starvation bv de- |
stroying the locusts in lS4S. But his |
4 personal experiences, narrated with
simplicity Of speech and unques-
tioning confidence thet are bewildering,
| were even more marvellous. II cattle were |
| lost he could always dream where they were.
| III sickness prevailed be knew beforehand
who would suffer, and which of them would |
! die, and which Of them recover. Ii Indians
were about, angels gave in his sleep the first
warnings of his danger. His sympathy with
the Indians was, however, very early awsk-
conciliatery fudiaa policy OF = Brigham
Young, he became before long the only rec
ognized medium of friendly communication
with them. Everybody, whether Federal
officials California emigrants, Mormon mis-
sionaries, or Indians themselves, enlisted hiL
influence whenever trouble with the tribes
was anticipated His own explanation of
this influence ia remarkable enough. As a
young man, he says, he was sometimes told
off TO Join retributive expeditions, but he
could never bring himself 10 fire at an In
dian; and on one occasion when he did try
TO do so, his rife kept missing Ere, while "the
Lamanites," with equally Intellectual efforts
to shed his blood, kept on pincushioning the
ground all around him with their futile
arrows. After this, he and the Indians,
whenever they met saved each others lives
with punctual reciprocity.
On one occasion he dreamed that he was
walking in friendly manner with some Of
the members of certain tribe, when he
picked up a piece of a shining substance
which stuck to his fingers. The more he
tried to rub it off the brighter it became.
One would naturally, under such circum-
stances, anticipate the revelation of a gold
mine; but Jacob HambliB, without any ques,
tioning, went off at once to the trlbs in ques-
ton. They received him as friends, and he
staid with Them. One day, passing lodge,
"the Spirit whispered to him, "Here Is the
shining substance you saw in your dream"
But all he cav was squaw and boy
papoose. However, he went up 10 the squaw
and asked for the boy. She naturally de-
INJURED TO the request, but, TO her ssionish-
ment, the boy, gathering up his bow and ar
rows, urged compliance with ii, and Hamblin
eventually led off his dream-revealed
"Iump.n After while he asked the boy
how it wss he was SO eager to come though
he had never seen a white man before, and
the boy answered: "My Spirit told me that
you were coming to my fathers lodge for
me, and that was to 60 with you /; and when
the day came went out to the edge OF the
wood and lit FIRE to show you the way to
men And Hamblin then remembered that 4
it was the smoke of q fire that had led him
10 that particular camp instead OF another A
toward which he was riding.
By way Of a parenthesis, let me remark
here, that If there sre any "SpIritu alists" IL
among my readers, they should study Nor
nonsm. The saints have long ago formu- "a =,
ated into accepted doctrines those mysteries v
If the occult world which SPiritualists OUT re
tide the faith are still investigating. Your | c
problems are their axioms. l.
This Indian boy became stanch Nor.
non, and TO the last was in communion with
he other world. (Remember, / am quoting
words-not necessarily indorsing
hem.) In 1868 he was at ST. George, and
me day, when mis- friends were starting on I
MISSION 10 a neighboring tribe he took fare J
Eell of them @forever.n 81 am going on
Mission, too,D be said. "Whatdo you meanT :.
sked Hsmblin. sOnly that 1 shall be dead
efore you come back" was the Indians re-
ly. 81 have seen myself in dream preach
ng the gospel to q multitude OF my people,
nd nv ancestors were among them. So
now that must be spirit too before ] can 4.
arry the Word to spirits" In six weeks E ss
[amblin returned to ST. George, and the In m
ian was dead. ies
: Jacob Hamblin, beyond all others, SYM Gu Gu
athized with the red mans nature. II argue tre
ifh him just az he argues" he said. He w
as on good terms with The medicine men, ssc
nd took delightful interest in their cere- ME
onies. But when they failed TO bring rain gu %,
ith bonfires and bowling, he used 10 pray sue
,wn abundant showers; when they gave up r.
rmenting the sick as past all hope, Hamblin -.
stored the invalid to life BY the laying on
hands. ronce more i.tne say thai am
ly quoting, not indorsiDg. Bot l do him
eat injustice In not being able 10 convey in
'iiing the impressive nmpncIty Oh nIa IAN
age, his low, measured tones, his contem-
alive, earnest attitude, his Indisn-like
aviiy of countsnsnce) That he speaks
> implicit truth, according to his own be-
T. / ana as certain rs that the sun 10
ming On the lake outside my window.
10 aoccullD sympathies seemed At
nes to be magnetic, for when in
ubt az to . companion on perilous
Irney, some brother or other, the httest
-son for the occasion, would always {
mysteriously Influenced to 90 TO him 10
if his services were needed. HD dis
asure killed men-thst is TO say, they
nt from his presence, sickened and died.
frequent was this inexplicable demise that
Indians worked out a superstition that
befalis those who rob or kill Mormon;
so marked we're the special manifesto
Is of the missionzries' spirit-pover that,
aamblin says, they were without excuse
refusing conversion" and were converted
'ey looked to rs for counsel, and learned
regard our words as law" Though the
sionzries were sometimes alone and the
rs around them OF the most desperate III,
J, as HplundersomeD AZ wolves and at per- Bite
ial blood-feud with each other, when l ny lei
had determined on an atroclty-burn- w.
a Equaw, for insiance-they would DO II conys
the moot nervous hurry lest q Nor dis-ss
should stop il, and when they had sr
; it and were reproached they used -
y like children and say they were "only
ans" Tragedy and comedy went hand
and; Laughter at the ludicrous is cut
{ BY a shudder of horror. "we cannot M
pod, We must be Piutes. Perhaps come IL
ur children will be good. We're going
o kill 30 and 70. Whoopp And away
would go, putting an arrow into the -
lonary's horse as they passed. By-and r
he man who shot the arrow would be 43S
d dead, and the rest be back at work in
settlement, hoeing pumpkins-'for all