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Ammon Meshach TenneyAnd His World

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by R. Allen Hackworth

Published byMormon Studies Online Journal

http://www.autobahnsoftware.net/Autobahn/MS1.htmAugust 2009

© R. Allen Hackworth 2009

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Table of ContentsIntroduction...........................................................................................61848 – The Trek West..............................................................................91851 – Moving to California....................................................................111858 – The Family Returns to Utah..........................................................111858 – The Interpreter's Challenge .........................................................121858 – Autumn Mission to the Moqui Indians (Hopi) in Northern Arizona.......131859 – Ammon's Parents Settle Grafton, Utah...........................................191860 – Ammon Sent Home.....................................................................191862 – The Winter of the Great Floods in Southern Utah.............................201864 – Expedition to the Moquis..............................................................231865 – Fighting the Navajos...................................................................261867 – Ammon Marries for the First Time.................................................271870 – Ammon Joins the Hamblin/John Wesley Powell Expedition.................271872 – Ammon Marries a Second Wife.....................................................321874 – Three Navajos Killed in Utah.........................................................321874 – Ammon and Jacob Leave for Fort Defiance......................................351874 - Ammon and Jacob Later Travel to Fort Defiance...............................371875 – Ammon Joins Dan Jones on a Mission to Mexico..............................381875 – Mission to Mexico and the Dan Jones Journal .................................391875 - More on the Mission to Mexico and the Dan Jones Journal.................421876 - Ammon Returns to Teach the Zunis................................................481877 – Brigham Young Sends Ammon out Scouting ...................................491878 – Ammon Presides over the Zuni Mission..........................................521879 – Ammon Buys Land......................................................................521880 – January Weather Conditions in Northeastern Arizona........................531880 - Apostle Lyman Reports ................................................................541880 – Ammon and Others Work for the Railroad.......................................561880 – Hard Issues for Ammon...............................................................571881 – Ammon Leaves the Railroad Camp and Returns to St. John...............601881 – Ammon and Joe McFate Remain Good Friends ................................601882 – Ammon Again Works on the Railroad.............................................631882 – In March, Ammon is in St. Johns...................................................631882 – Ammon's Father, Nathan Cram Tenney, is Shot................................641883 – Ammon Still in St. Johns..............................................................691884 – Four of Ammon's Children are Born in St. Johns..............................691884 – Polygamy Caused Much Strife.......................................................691886 – Ammon Returns to Apache County from Prison................................721888 – Journal Entry.............................................................................731890 – Ammon Marries a Third Time........................................................731894 - The Zuni Indians.........................................................................741901 – Ammon Called to Mexico City as the Mission President.....................751907 - Journal Entry from the Colonies.....................................................76

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1908 - References to Ammon's Wife, Eliza Udall.........................................761909 – The Rumble of Revolution ...........................................................771925 – Ammon Dies..............................................................................78Conclusion...........................................................................................79Oases Have Grown in the Desert.............................................................79Prosperity Has Succeeded Privation..........................................................80Color-coded Text Connects Wives and Children..........................................81Some Ammon M. Tenney Relatives ..........................................................82Relevant Gravestones............................................................................83A Few More Photos................................................................................85

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Illustration 1: Lee's Ferry Around 1900

This biography is dedicated to James Harvey McClintockProlific, Honest, Fair, Objective, Competent Writer of History

Born 23 Feb 1864 in Sacramento, CaliforniaDied 10 May 1934

Arizona State Historian from 1919-1922President of the Arizona Folklore Society

Secretary of the National Irrigation CongressPresident of the Arizona Archaeological Society

Postmaster of PhoenixPresident of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce

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Introduction

In 2009 Garn Huntington and I used 4-wheelers to explore Gooseberry Mesa near Hurricane, Utah. I said, “Garn, while we are near, let's look at that old ghost town, Grafton.” We did so, and I started learning some history associated with this often-photographed location. After strolling the site, we later studied names in the pioneer cemetery. We noticed the graves and markers of a young married couple along with their friend, all of whom had been murdered by Indians.

One item of interest led to another, and I soon started doing research on an early Grafton family, Nathan Cram Tenney and his wife, Olive Strong. One fact that piqued my interest was the name the couple chose for one of their sons, Marvelous Flood Tenney. After writing a short biography about Nathan Cram Tenney, I became interested in another son, Ammon. I read a comment on the Tenney Family web page where someone wrote this idea, “My goodness, we don't have much information on Ammon Tenney other than the references in the McClintock book.” And that is how this biography got started. I went looking for information that went beyond McClintock's wonderful work.

For many years, old-west stories from the latter half of the 19th century have captured people's imaginations. Exploring this period, we watch western movies and read western novels. Contemporary western-clothing fashions follow patterns which match the styles we see in the western movies. Today men and women love their horses; some join modern-day posses which help with search and rescue as well as providing opportunities for rides in the mountains. Some clubs still practice quick-draw shooting skills, and in the West, some people like to beautify their yards with old wagons which look like the wagons used by the old cowboys and ranchers. We associate the square dance with the old west, and again, the dancers' clothing matches what we think the old cowboys and cowgirls wore. Boots, saddles, guns, trail rides, mountain hunting trips, and camping all are inspired by our love of the cowboys' adventures which are part of our important local history.

Would you want a custom-made headband for your cowboy hat? How about one made from the skin of a rattle snake. Such a snake band would be right in style with the ranch hands playing cards in an old, 19th century, rustic cabin. Notice the hat band on Ammon's hat.

Still being performed, we listen to old-time “pure western music” which uses fiddles, harmonicas, and guitars to accompany ballads which tell stories of the old west.

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Today many authentic cowboys and cowgirls still live and work in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona (and of course, other states). They talk, move, walk, and think like cowboys. They are purebreds, and they are the children of the old west.

Why do we keep the old ways and stories alive? Because we consider the second half of the 19th century a highly exciting time. The period included events which capture our imaginations including: hard riding (present in our rodeos), Indian conflicts, hunting wild game for survival, six shooters and rifles, bears, cougars, raising cattle, breaking wild horses, exploring new territories, coping with outlaws, solving water issues and disputes, building cabins, and taming a wild country. When one reads about the lives of the old pioneers, one gets the real thing. The pioneer missionaries did it all, and although they suffered many deprivations, my belief is that they had a heck of a good time as they lived their numerous adventures. Additionally, they had love, often of a polygamist variety, and the joys of their marriages led to the birth of many children.

Events in Ammon Tenney's life are worth reviewing and remembering. For Tenney and his companions, their few years on earth were only flashes of light, eye blinks, when compared to the earth's geologic history. But what bright, happy, admirable flashes they were.

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Illustration 2: The Pioneer Past - A Time to RememberPhoto – Sons of the Utah Pioneers

Because primary sources are wanted, and because hearing the stories from the participants' own lips illuminates their truths, I have quoted Ammon and his friends frequently. Their actual words are as good as it gets when learning about Ammon's life. As you learn about Ammon and his world, the materials follow a chronological order. Also, to help understand Ammon's world, information is given about a few of his relatives and comrades.

Much effort have been made to locate photographs and to display the pictures as they relate to the narrative. Early photos are hard to find because few exist. When photos are found, they often picture the subjects when they are old, not when the young bucks could wrestle a cougar and outrun a wolf. But as you look at the older people in the pictures, remember that many of their adventures took place when they were young. For example, during one 1864 adventure, Jacob Hamblin, the oldest, was 45; William (Gunlock) Hamblin, Dudley Leavitt, and Isaac Riddle were 34; Thales Haskell was 30; Ira Hatch was 29; and Ammon Tenney was 20. Nevertheless, showing pictures of the old men is better than no pictures at all. Yet a few photos do show the men when they were young. For Ammon M. Tenney, however, only a few photos are available. They show an older man; yet I wish we could see the young, 20-year-old cowboy.

All photos come from the Internet unless otherwise cited.

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Illustration 3: Southern Utah HistorianR. Allen Hackworth

Photo by Eddie Jones


1848 – The Trek West

hen one learns about the life of Ammon Meshach Tenney,

one may be amazed at his several adventures. He traveled many miles; lived in numerous locations including Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, California, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and Mexico; endured the hardships and privations associated with pioneer life; and accomplished good as a missionary to the Indians.

W

One may say, Ammon did a lot of living in his 81 years. One may also say of Ammon, he seemed old when he was young, and young when he was old. For example, as a teenager, he participated in an expedition to the Hopi Indians, and as an older man, he continued to father children with a young wife.

This hardy frontiersman was a friend and companion of some great, 19th century pioneers including Francis Lyman, Ira Hatch, Dudley Leavitt, John Wesley Powell, and Jacob Hamblin. One eminent historian, James H. McClintock, mentioned Tenney several times in his book, Mormon Settlements in Arizona. Although McClintock was not a member of the LDS church, his treatment of Ammon and the Mormons in Arizona is fair and balanced. This official historian for the state of Arizona gave Ammon a casual yet admirable compliment when he wrote, “Ammon M. Tenney, a scout of Mormondom second only to Jacob Hamblin, . . . “1

Ammon was the second child of Nathan Cram Tenney and Olive Strong. Ammon was born 16 November 1844 in Rand, Lee County, Iowa. About the same time as

1 James H. McClintock, Mormon Settlement in Arizona, (Bibliobazaar 2006. Original copyright 1921) 170. (McClintock, 1864-1934, was Arizona State Historian from 1919-1922. He personally interviewed Ammon M. Tenney.)

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Illustration 4: Ammon Meshach Tenney

his birth, Ammon's mother and father joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This was a turbulent period for the LDS church. This same year on June 27th, church leaders Joseph and Hyrum Smith were murdered.

After the murders of Joseph and Hyrum, the next two years were fairly calm, but about the time Brigham Young was selected as the new president of the church, the unrest and violence had regained its intensity. Criminals again started destructive raids. Earlier, for such mob actions, government officials gave nods of approval.2 At this time in the United States, the Mormons had no constitutional protections of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

In Nauvoo, because all possibilities for safety and tranquility faded, for survival sake, church leaders chose to move the Christ-centered, peace-loving church to remote lands in the West. Consequently, on February 4, 1846, families began leaving Nauvoo. In freezing weather, the first wagons rolled out of the city and crossed the frozen Mississippi River.

From a nearby location, the Tenneys gathered with the saints in Iowa. By this time, Ammon was two years old. His parents were listed as members of the Mount Pisgah Branch, Union, Iowa3, and they were also listed as two of the 7,478 residents staying at Winter Quarters in 1846.4 (Some early documents spell Nathan's last name “Tenny.” Current FamilySearch records use the name “Tenney.”)

In the spring of 1847, the first group of saints left Winter Quarters for the Utah Territory; however, the Tenneys were not in this first group. They remained at Winter Quarters near Florence, Nebraska (now Omaha), likely needing to earn more money for trek provisions. The next year while still at Winter Quarters, a third child, Nathan Cram Jr., was born 4 April 1848. He died the same day. One month later, Ammon's six-year-old brother, George Alma, died on the 1st of May. George Alma's grave site, number 304, is in the Winter Quarters Cemetery.5

Two months after burying George Alma, the Tenneys moved out with the Willard Richards Company. Because the group was large with 526 people, the group was divided, and Amasa Lyman became the leader of the second group. Lyman's

2 Rumors of atrocities existed on both sides. Earlier in Missouri, some harsh reports were given to Governor L. W. Boggs. This eventually led to his executive order which included this text: “ . . . The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary . . . “

3 Iowa Branches Members Index 1829 - 1859, Volumes I and II, Ronald G. Watt, (Historical Department Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1991, Copyright LDS Church).4 http://winterquarters.byu.edu/Biographies.aspx5 http://winterquarters.byu.edu/pages/graves.aspx

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group left a couple of days before the Richard's Company. Departure dates were July 1 and July 3 and arrival dates were October 10 – 19.6

After an October 1848 arrival in Salt Lake City, the Tenney family moved near Big Cottonwood Canyon to make a home. The next year at Big Cottonwood, on 27 April 1849, Olive Eliza was born. The family stayed at Cottonwood for three years.7

1851 – Moving to California

In 1851, the Tenneys became part of a group going to California. Brigham requested that about twenty people go to San Bernardino and establish a settlement, but as it turned out, and much to President Young's disappointment, almost 500 pioneers enthusiastically volunteered. Ammon was five years old when his family moved to California.

Because of Ammon's youth, a natural time to learn a language, and because Ammon spent the next seven years living around Spanish people in San Bernardino, Ammon learned to speak Spanish. Plus, in California, his mother taught Spanish students in the school. While in California, Ammon gained three sisters and a brother although Nancy Ann and Phoebe Relief both died at birth. The next child, Abby Celestia, lived only for one year. But Ammon's brother, John Lowell, lived for the next 80 years. Eventually he died in Fruitland, New Mexico in 1936.

1858 – The Family Returns to Utah

In January 1858 because of impending war, Ammon's father was asked to lead a small company of saints from San Bernardino back to Utah. Because of the war threat, in addition to the Tenney company, many San Bernardino groups returned to Utah. Ammon, age 13, traveled with his father's wagon train.8 The published names for this company do not include the rest of the Tenney family. Yet it seems unlikely that Olive and the children would have been with a different wagon train other than her husband's. One way or another, most of the family returned to Utah, and on 29 July 1858, Ammon's brother, Samuel Benjamin Tenney, was born in Cedar City. (This child lived a long life, and eventually Samuel Benjamin died 23 May 1949 in Thatcher, Arizona).

6 http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneercompany/0,15797,4017-1-2,00.html7 Some histories say the family was at Little Cottonwood, most say Big Cottonwood. The LDS

FamilySearch records say Big Cottonwood.8 http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneercompany/0,15797,4017-1-447,00.html

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When the Nathan Cram Tenney wagon train passed through the Las Vegas area, apparently young Ammon decided to stay for a few months. This is according to McClintock who personally interviewed Ammon regarding his life.9 Consequently, the event described next was likely witnessed by Ammon during the winter of1858. At any rate, the story is an example of the sometimes humorous requirements which were necessary to communicate with the Indians.

1858 – The Interpreter's Challenge

One hundred miles south of Santa Clara, Utah in the Nevada Muddy Valley, Ira Hatch had been sent by Jacob Hamblin to work with the Indians. Hatch was later joined by Thales Haskell and together they occupied a small fort through the winter. Mormon travelers from California to Utah would have stopped at the Hatch location. This event involved the Indians, Col. Thomas L. Kane, Ira Hatch, and Amasa M. Lyman, all converging in Southern Nevada where Ammon was said to be staying.

Regarding his English skills, Thomas Kane was sophisticated and formal. Ira Hatch, on the other hand, had lived among the Indians so long that his broken English was unintelligible to Kane. Although Hatch understood English, he could not make sense of Col. Kane's formal English.

So, communication followed this sequence: The Indians spoke and Ira Hatch translated their words into his broken English. Amasa Lyman then translated Ira Hatch's broken English into formal English which Col.

9 McClintock 110.

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Illustration 5: Col. Thomas Kane

Illustration 7: Ira HatchIllustration 6: Amasa Lyman

Kane could understand. Messages were sent back and forth in this way from Kane to the Indians.10 The fun irony is that Ira Hatch is said to have known 13 Indian dialects.

1858 – Autumn Mission to the Moqui Indians (Hopi) in Northern Arizona

In Utah a story circulated which suggested that in the past the Moqui Indians associated with some ancient travelers from Wales, and that a few Welsh words infiltrated into the Moqui language. Brigham Young, always eager to discover new information, dispatched a fact-finding / missionary expedition to research this legend in Arizona. Speaking of this trip, Jacob Hamblin said,

In the autumn of this year, 1858, I received instructions from President Brigham Young to take a company of men and visit the Moquis, or town Indians, on the east side of the Colorado River.

The object of this visit was to learn something of the character and condition of this people, and to take advantage of any opening there might be to preach the gospel to them and do them good. My com-panions for this trip were Brothers Dudley and Thomas Leavitt, two of my brothers, Frederick and William Hamblin, Samuel Knight, Ira Hatch, Andrew Gibbons, Benjamin Knell, Ammon M. Tenney (Spanish interpreter), James Davis (Welsh interpreter), and Naraguts,

an Indian guide.11

10 McClintock, 110.11Jacob Hamblin and James A. Little, Jacob Hamblin, A Narrative of his Personal Experiences as a

Frontiersman, Missionary to the Indians and Explorer, (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1909), 62-63.

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Illustration 8: Jacob Hamblin

Illustration 9: Dudley LeavittIllustration 10:Frederick Hamblin (1841-1922).Jacob's brother. Died in Alpine,

Apache County, Arizona.

By this time, Ammon had returned to Utah from his short stay near Las Vegas. Although Ammon was only 13 (soon to be 14 in a few weeks), he was invited on the Moqui trip so he could translate Spanish. Again, Durias Davis went because he spoke Welsh.12 A few weeks before leaving Santa Clara, the men met to plan the excursion. Horses were shod, appropriate food supplies were prepared by the wives, and blankets, canteens, guns, ammunition, and picks and shovels were gathered.

The challenge of leaving home and family was felt by all the missionaries, but for young Ammon and his parents, the separation was especially worrisome and painful. Ammon said about his departure from Southern Utah:

The effulgent rays of a warming sun shone and my loving parents arose early from a sleepless night, their hearts had been swollen with emotions over my departure. . . for I was only fourteen years old, this coupled with the perils that they knew would be strewn at every turn of my pathway. . . . Our journey was tended with many hardships which for me were grievous to bear. I was required to take part in the labors and guarding of our animals at night. Owing to my tenderness in health and the kindness that had been given me at home I was unusually sensitive and my feelings were often lacerated or wounded but I have some friends in the company, especially Jacob, who fully appreciated my labors and his defense for me was often given in the following language, 'This little man has been our ears and tongue.'13

For all of the men, except Chief Naraguts, this would be their first time traveling this route. The group, including 13 men, 13 horses, and three pack animals, left 28 October 1858. The route proved to be physically challenging and dangerous because of walls, cliffs, narrow ledges, deep gullies, and dead-end canyons.

The route included Pipe Spring, and this location was named at this time. Here Jacob's brother, William Hamblin, shot the bottom out of the bowl of a tobacco pipe.

12McClintock, 71.13 Winn Whiting Smiley, “Ammon M. Tenney: Mormon Missionary to the Indians,” The Journal of

Arizona History, Vol 13, Issue 2, Summer 1972, 86.

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Illustration 12: Benjamin Knell

Illustration 11: Andrew S. Gibbons

The next camp was at the foot of the Buckskin Mountains. Some Indians joined the Hamblin camp and provided the missionaries with a dinner of roasted rabbit. The Indians had been hunting for a couple of days, and their rabbit supply was plentiful. Soon the party reached the Colorado River. Ammon wrote about the crossing:

We were accompanied by Naraguts, the chief, who acted as a guide, and with nineteen warriors assisted us across what was known as the 'Crossing of the Fathers.' We were in the water about one mile wide; those twenty warriors grasped each other's hands and stretched out in a line side by side, so they could aid and help to hold up the one or more who found it hard to swim in the water. We remained behind this 100-foot line and would turn toward those that were seventy-five yards ahead who were in the shallowest water and by so doing we maneuvered our horses when they did not swim. Our suspense was lowered a little on reaching the eastern bank, though we were now on no-man's land; to the land that had not been blessed and dedicated by the servants of our Heavenly Father. I was only a child as yet, still I remembered the teachings of my mother. I felt lonely and that

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Illustration 13: A fort shown here was later constructed at Pipe Springs. Pipe Springs is now a national monument.

longing that always follows home-sickness. It proved that the entire country talked Spanish and I was mouth and ears for our little band and could hear and answer all they said.14

This historic photo shows the location of the Crossing of the Fathers. This location is now covered with the waters of Lake Powell. According to W. L. Rusho,

The Dominquez-Escalante Expedition, on November 7, 1776, cut steps for their horses into Padre Creek (lower right), then followed the creek to the Colorado River. They crossed diagonally near the wide bend at the right center. Mormon missionaries to the Hopi Indians crossed the river here in 1858, 1859, and 1860.15

After crossing the Colorado River, the group traveled at night and avoided making fires because they did not want to attract the attention of the Navajos who were ready for a fight.

14 Pearson H. Corbet, Jacob Hamblin: Peacemaker (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1976), 154-155.

15 W. L. Rusho, Lee's Ferry: Desert River Crossing, (Salt Lake City: Tower Productions, 2003), 14.

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Illustration 14: Photo Source - Lee's Ferry: Desert River Crossing

One serious challenge en route was the runaway of two pack animals. The mules bolted with supplies still loaded on their backs. Two men stayed behind to recover the animals, and the rest of the group moved ahead. Only one mule was found so they lost a portion of the needed, carefully-selected supplies.

The men were well treated by the Moqui, and the Mormons were impressed with the Moqui people because of their industry and orderly way of life. The Indians lived in stone, terraced, apartment-like houses. They were a clean people. They grew crops and raised sheep. They respected life, and they appreciated the Mormons for not violating their women. Regarding the Welsh-Moqui language question, the explorers found no evidence of a connection. After a few weeks, some of the men returned to their homes on November 18, 1858, and some of the missionaries remained. Ammon returned to his home, anxious to tell his family about his adventures with Jacob Hamblin and the Moqui. The missionaries who stayed were William (Gunlock) Hamblin, Thomas Leavitt, Andrew S. Gibbons and Benjamin Knell.

Because of cold, wet weather, the group suffered greatly on the return trip. Heavy snows obscured their way as they tramped through knee-deep snow. Because of starvation, they had to kill one of their horses. The men reported that the meat was the best they had ever eaten. This conclusion was reached, no doubt, because the men were starving. Later in the winter, the rest of the missionaries returned to Southern Utah.

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Illustration 15: Villages in Northern Arizona. Photo from the Museum of Northern Arizona.

1859 – Ammon's Parents Settle Grafton, Utah

In 1859, moving from Cedar City, Ammon's parents were called to settle in Dixie, and they selected an area which they named Grafton. They made the move in December.16 Their new picturesque location was near what is now Zion National Park. The family lived near the Rio Virgin for three years. Also, the Barney, Davies, James McFate, Platt, and Shirts families joined the small community. As will be seen, the son of James McFate, Joseph, married Ammon's sister, Olive Eliza.

1860 – Ammon Sent Home

In 1860 church leaders requested another Indian mission to the Hopi Indians. Included for this trip were: Jacob Hamblin, George A. Smith Jr., Thales Haskell, Jehiel McConnell, Ira Hatch, Isaac Riddle, Amos G. Thornton, Francis (Frank) M. Hamblin, James Pearce, and Indian guide, Enos. Jacob also invited Ammon, but later young Ammon Tenney was sent home, probably to Grafton. This was done because Jacob feared the expedition would be dangerous.17 And Jacob was right. On this expedition George A. Smith Jr. was shot and killed by an Indian using George's own gun. This event discouraged the missionaries, and they all returned home.18

As hard as Jacob Hamblin tried to preserve the peace, conflicts between the settlers and the Indians festered and erupted. Consequently, the saints formed a militia to help protect their cattle and sheep. Ammon was a member of the militia, and on one occasion he helped protect a captured Indian. Ammon's journal reveals his good nature and the high regard he had for fair play.

Once upon a time we the militia of southern Utah held as prisoner a young Paiute and this poor man was so awfully scared that he would swoon away and remain unconscious for thirty to forty minutes. While thus unconscious the boys and men in that part of the camp justified some of the crowd in rolling coals of fire against his flesh for they said he was only possiuming. I would push the coals of fire away and thus defend this poor mortal until it created such enmity toward me that they were about to beat my head with pistols and said that this Indian helped murder Doc Whitmore and Bud Moody and that I was no better if I defended him while I took grounds that he was entitled to good treatment as long as he was a prisoner but this argument had no weight in their minds and it raged on account of my persistence whereupon the officers put a stop to it, exonerating me.19

16 Andrew Karl Larson, I Was Called to Dixie (St. George, Utah: Dixie College, 1992), 95.17 McClintock, 73.18 Smiley, 88.19 Smiley, 88.

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During this same general time period, when Ammon was young and unmarried, Captain James Andrus went to Toquerville to solicit Ammon's aide in a campaign against the Navajos. Indians had shot and wounded Mosiah Hancock of Pine Valley, and they stole cattle and horses at the same time. Ammon was sick in bed, and his mother pleaded with Captain Andrus to leave her son alone and let him recover. The Captain would not be silenced in his request for Ammon's help. He said that Ammon was going even if he had to be carried in a wagon because

Ammon was the only one who knew the locations of the passes and water holes. Ammon went with the men and later wrote about this event:

When the fighting began the warriors took shelter in the crooked wash they had camped in. They were soon dislodged and they retreated up a low elevation. We saw one who secreted himself in the broken crevice of the wash in the hope of not being seen but the . . . camp retreating around him frightened him. He sprang forth and ran for his life. Instantly, Captain Andrus called out an order to Mr. Warren to shoot that Indian. He was a new man in our country generally called up to this time a tenderfoot because he had not fired a gun, but just seemed dazed gazing with consternation at the awful deal of death and carnage around him. It was evident that he shot the man between the hip joints from the fact that the Indian slapped both his hands on his wound and continued to retreat. Mr. Warren having observed this gesture turned to the Captain and said, 'Do you think he meant to insult me?'

The warriors who had reached this level top turned and faced eighty-four well-armed men. . . . As they were only thirteen warriors this has ever been the most courageous and brave feat I have ever witnessed in all my experience.

Captain Andrus and company followed the Indians for days and eventually killed one of the Navajos.

1862 – The Winter of the Great Floods in Southern Utah

In the winter of 1862, Nathan Cram Tenney and family had been in Grafton for three years. This year it rained every day for over a month. As a result, high water in the Rio Virgin completely destroyed Old Grafton, washing away trees, cabins, and precious soil. Building too near the now-raging river, suffering in the never-ending rain, Ammon's mother, Olive Strong Tenney, was ripe for delivery of a new baby. After moving from her flooded cabin, her temporary protection was a wagon box. The cold, January storms and Olive's labor pains converged.

The wagon box was too close to the swollen river, and Olive's life was in danger. During the wild storms, with ground giving way each day to the boiling, rushing waters, to save the birthing mother's life, a group of men picked up the box with Olive inside and moved her to higher ground. Because of the circumstances of

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the birth of their new son, the Tenneys named Ammon's brother, Marvelous Flood Tenney. (The child, called Marv, only lived for three years.) At the end of the storms, Old Grafton was gone, so the Saints moved a mile up river and started New Grafton.

By this time, Ammon's parents had lost five of their 10 children. These included: George Alma, Nathan Cram Jr., Nancy Ann, Phoebe Relief, and Abby Celestia.

During the 1862 flood, it is not known if 18-year-old Ammon was in Grafton. However, at the time of the flood, Olive Eliza was 13, John Lowell was 6, Samuel Benjamin was 4, and Marvelous Flood was an infant.

This flood event was described a little differently by adult Sam Tenney who was only four at the time, but obviously, he heard the story repeated many times as he grew up:

It was in the year of 1862, when the Rio Virgin went on a rampage and overflowed its banks, and the little town of Grafton was entirely washed away, swooping their homes and everything they had in its courses. Grandmother [Mother] Tenney was about to give birth to a baby. She was carried out of her home on a bed to a hillside, by Grandfather [Father] Tenney, Henry Barney, J. Riley, and Joe [McFate].

Then Joe went back for the baby clothes which were in the little leather bound China trunk. It was at that moment that a mighty wave turned the house down the river; but Joe seized the trunk with a grip that did not turn loose and soon he was seen (with his muscular form bobbing up and down) with the trunk on his head and shoulders. Mighty cheers from the flood-stricken people went up when he landed safe on their side.20

The reference “Joe” in the above quote refers to Joseph Smith McFate. The James McFate family moved to Toquerville, Utah in October 1858 when Joe was 13. During the following years, the McFates and Tenneys became friends. Joe and Ammon were only a year apart, and it is natural that Joe McFate had many opportunities to get to know Ammon's sister, Eliza. In time, a natural, easy love developed between Eliza and Joe.

Regarding the friendship between Joe McFate and the Tenneys, one situation revolved around a violin. Joe made himself a violin and learned to play it. Nathan Tenney paid Joe with a mare to make a violin for Ammon. Joe did so. The boys continued to practice until they could play their instruments for some of the dances.21

At the time of the flood, Joe McFate was 17. After the flood, Joe helped Ammon's

20 Roy McFate, “Joseph S. McFate, 1845 to 1930,” 1970,http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/c/p/John-B-McPhate/FILE/0004text.txt21 Roy McFate.

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father rebuild one mile upstream. The next year, Ammon's 14-year-old sister, Eliza, married Joseph Smith McFate. Such an early marriage for Eliza was not wanted by Nathan and Olive, but the parents finally agreed under the following conditions:

Mormon immigrants coming to Utah had to have transportation across the plains, and Brigham took it on himself to see that the Church furnished it. Joe was called on to make that trip and bring back a load of women. Because of the fact that he would be absent for a year, maybe more, the parents consented to their marriage on condition that they didn't live together until his return from the east. Since he would be leaving immediately that part of the bargain was easy. So, on March the first, 1863, they were married in Rockville, Utah; he being 18 and she 14 years of age.

Joe's trip, which started later in April, was with the Daniel McArthur Company. He drove a team of six oxen. They arrived in Florence, Nebraska in early June, but since they had to wait there for their passengers to arrive, Joe found work on a farm until they came. It was the sixth of August when they started on their return trip. The train consisted of 75 wagons. Joe's wagon was loaded with women, and when he arrived in Salt Lake City there was enough men there to take the women off his hands within the hour.

The train arrived in Salt Lake City on October 3rd, and Joe's wife was there to meet him. She had gone up to the October conference with her father in a light wagon pulled by a span of mules, but she chose to go back with her husband even though it was in a slow moving wagon behind a yoke of oxen.22

Two years after the marriage day, Joe and Eliza had their first child, Lucy Olive, but the baby only lived about two weeks. A second mother, Mrs. Hobson, died at the same time, so Eliza nursed and raised her baby. Joe and Eliza eventually had 13 children of their own.

Another fun incident shows the spunky character of Ammon's sister, Eliza, and his brother-in-law, Joe McFate. (Joe and Ammon later worked together in Arizona on the railroad.)

Another time was when a celebration was taking place in one of the communities, and one of the Danites challenged anyone to a horse race. He was riding one of the stallions that came out of the Mountain Meadow Stock. Joe and Olive got their heads together and accepted the challenge. Olive rode Joe's little race mare, and she threw dust in the Danite's face from the first jump to the finish line. The Danite's pride was a little upset at having a girl - "A damn silly little girl take advantage of him that way." He popped off a little more than Joe thought was necessary and he told him so. That lead to an altercation which lead to a challenge to a fist fight where only two strikes were struck: Joe hit the Danite and the Danite hit the ground. That could and no doubt would have been more serious except for

22 Roy McFate.

22

Jimmy Jackson who was an officer. He stepped in and told other friends of the Danite to keep away and let them settle it by themselves. It stopped there and the celebrations went on.23

1864 – Expedition to the Moquis

The Tenney family probably stayed in Grafton for a few more months, but records show they next moved to nearby Toquerville. In the fall of 1864, Ammon was again involved with Jacob Hamblin on a trip to the Moqui villages. The trip was not announced, and few knew about it. Jacob felt a need to try harder to teach these Indians the doctrines of Jesus Christ.

Jacob hand picked the best suited scouts and missionaries he could muster for the expedition. His plan was to live with the Indians for at least six months. This trip developed because of Jacob's initiative.

Usually trips were requested by church leaders, but not this time. The men selected to go were: Isaac Riddle, Thales Haskell, Andrew Gibbons, Dudley Leavitt, William (Gunlock) Hamblin, Ammon Tenney, and Ira Hatch.24

23 Roy McFate.

23

Illustration 16: Issac Riddle Illustration 17: Thales Haskell

Illustration 18: Andrew Gibbons

The above rare photo is precious. It shows the Moencopi village as it looked when the missionaries lived among the Indians.

At the time of the 1864 expedition, Jacob, the oldest, was 45; William Hamblin, Dudley Leavitt, and Isaac Riddle were 34; Thales Haskell was 30; Ira Hatch was 29; and Ammon was 20. Both going and coming, the men ran out of water. From Isaac Riddle's journal, we read,

It was in the fall of 1864 that Jacob Hamblin and myself and six others undertook to perform a mission to (the Moquis) to preach to them the principles of the Gospel. It was on this trip that we had another evidence of God with us. We crossed the Colorado River on a raft at the point where Lee's Ferry was later constructed, and struck across the country on the Old Ute trail. But it had been a dry season and we passed first one empty water hole and then another until it looked as if there was no water in the country at all. But we kept on in the hope that when the big rock water tank which we knew through our previous visit, when young George A. Smith was killed and which was in the country of Saneshank, should be reached . . . we would have plenty of water. But when we came up to it we found that it, too, was empty and we were in sore straits, for we were greatly in need of water, and we now knew that there was none on this trail for a distance of fifty miles.

Then Hamblin asked me if I thought I could find the spring where Old Spaneshank was camped the time we first met him. I was not sure, but I

24 Corbett, 243.

24

Illustration 19: From James McClintock's, Mormon Settlement in Arizona

said I would try, and leaving the company, I climbed up a high, steep mountain which the trail skirted, telling the boys to go on and I would from the top get our course and meet them on the the farther side. It was difficult climbing, but by dint and much hard work, crawling part of the time on my hands and knees, I reached the summit. And then when I looked over, lo! There before me, almost within arm's reach, lay a clear pool of rain water. I took a drink of it, and a little farther on discovered two larger pools, sufficient for the whole company and all our horses. The descent from the other side was easy, and we found that we could lead the horses up to the larger pool. And when we had drunk our fill, and attended to our horses we knelt down and returned thanks to God for our deliverance.25

The men felt blessed again as they returned to Utah. From Isaac Riddle's journal we read:

On our return we had an experience that impressed us very much. While crossing the desert from the Moqui Villages we anticipated that when we reached the rocks containing the pools of water where we had been succored a short time before we would again find water. What was our surprise and horror, therefore, to discover on reaching the rocks there was not a drop of water in any of them. Having crossed a fifty mile desert, we were in sore need of water, both for ourselves and for our animals; and as we had another fifty miles of desert to travel before reaching the Colorado river, it was most essential that we have water. The nearest water to us was ten miles distance, over a sandy desert, and directly out of our way; that is, we would have to travel twenty miles to get water, and again reach our trail for home. It was nearly two days on our way home to water, and both we and the animals were greatly distressed.

Hamblin suggested that we search for the Navajo spring, as we had intended to do when we first found the pools, and this we decided to do. It was then almost night, and we thought of putting in the evening in the search, and if we should fail then, we would make for the spring in the morning.

We separated and went in different directions. I climbed to the top of the mountain near the place where I had previously discovered the pools. Nothing was to be found there. But there was a good view of the surrounding country and for some time I sat and looked about me, and while I sat there the realization of the seriousness of our position came to me, and I told the Lord our situation, that we had been called on that trip by those who had been appointed to lead His people; that we were there to try to do good and for the advancement of His work; and that in the performance of our duty we had been sent into a desert country where there was neither water nor food. I implored His aid.

25 Corbett, 243.

25

And my prayer was answered. For no sooner had I arisen from my knees than I beheld in the northwest a tiny cloud, and while I watched it, it grew from a speck to a cumulus [Issac's spelling] cloud and I could see that it was moving directly for us. So I descended from the mountain and called to the boys and showed them the approaching cloud. Whereupon all were pleased and returned thanks to God. In a very short time the cloud was over us, and it snowed, and the snow melted and filled the pools. It was a miracle.26

The men eventually all returned to Utah with feelings of thanksgiving for a successful trip. Jacob returned to find that his wife, Rachel, had died while he was Arizona.

1865 – Fighting the Navajos

The next year, 1865, Ammon and his father fought a battle with 16 Navajos in Southern Utah. When Ammon spoke of this event to James H. McClintock, Ammon described a time when he, his father, Nathan, and Enoch Dodge were “eighteen miles west of Pipe Spring and six miles southwest of Canaan, Utah.” McClintock writes:

There were three Americans from Toquerville, the elder Tenney [age 48], the narrator [Ammon Meshach Tenney, age 21], and Enoch Dodge, the last known as one of the bravest of southern Utah pioneers. The three were surrounded by sixteen Navajos, and, with their backs to the wall, fought for an hour or more, finally abandoning their thirteen horses and running for better shelter. Dodge was shot through the knee cap, a wound that incapacitated him from the fight thereafter. The elder Tenney fell and broke his shoulder blade and was stunned, though he was not shot. This left the fight upon the younger Tenney, who managed to climb a twelve-foot rocky escarpment. He reached down with his rifle and dragged up his father and Dodge. The three opportunely found a little cave in which they secreted themselves until reasonably rested, hearing the Indians searching for them on the plateau above. Then, in the darkness, they made their way fifteen miles into Duncan's Retreat on the Virgin River in Utah. 'There is one thing I will say for the Navajo,' Tenney declared with fervor. 'He is a sure-enough fighting man. The sixteen of them stood shoulder to shoulder, not taking cover, as almost any other southwestern Indian would have done.'27

During the same year, 1865, Ammon was pressed into service by Captain James Andrus. The militia formed to retrieve animals which had been stolen by the Indians. At the time, Ammon was sick, being nursed at his parent's house in Toquerville.

26 Corbett, 245.27 McClintock, 77.

26

1867 – Ammon Marries for the First Time

In 1867 when he was 23, now a seasoned explorer, Ammon married sixteen-year-old Anna Sariah Eagar. The marriage, performed at the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, was eventually blessed with 10 children. In the beginning, Ammon and Anna lived in Toquerville, and here Anna gave birth to two children. However, in 1870, the family moved to Kanab, Utah.

Kanab was first settled in 1864, but the settlers had been driven away because of Indian conflicts. Now Ammon and family along with Jacob Hamblin and family and others moved in to resettle the area. (Levi Stewart was the first bishop of Kanab, and his beautiful daughter married David King Udall.)

1870 – Ammon Joins the Hamblin/John Wesley Powell Expedition

In October 1870, when Ammon was 26, Jacob Hamblin invited Ammon to join himself and John Wesley Powell on a trip to the center of the Navajo Nation at Fort Defiance. Speaking of this experience, Ammon told McClintock:

'The previous year, the Navajo had stolen $1,000,000 worth of cattle, horses and sheep in southern Utah. . . .' Tenney estimated that about 8000 Indians were on the council grounds at Fort Defiance. This number would have included the entire tribe. It was found that the gathering was distinctly hostile.28

Describing the Fort Defiance trip, from Hamblin's journal we read,

In the autumn of [1870] 1871,29 Major Powell concluded to go east, by way of Fort Defiance, and desired me to accompany him. As this appeared to be an opening for the much-desired peace talk with the Navajo Indians, I readily accepted the invitation.

28 McClintock, 82.29 Hamblin's record here is off one year. This date should be 1870. In 1871, Powell was involved

in his second expedition down the Colorado River according to Frederick S. Dellenbaugh.

27

Illustration 20: John Wesley Powell

We started for Fort Defiance in October. Three men who were strangers to me, accompanied us, and Brothers Ammon M. Tenney, Ashton Nebeker, Nathan Terry and Elijah Potter; also Frank, a Kibab Indian.

We packed lumber on mules over the Kibab, or Buckskin Mountain, to the crossing of the Colorado, now known as Lee's Ferry. With this we constructed a small boat, in which we conveyed our luggage across. Our animals crossed over by swimming.

We traveled at nights most of the way, to preserve our animals from the Indians.

We visited all the Moqui towns, seven in number, and had much interesting talk with the people. Professor Powell took much interest in their festivals, dances, religious ceremonies and manner of living. Arriving at Fort Defiance, Major Powell rendered me much assistance in bringing about peace with the Navajoes. About six thousand of them were gathered there to receive their annuities. [Tenney estimated 8,000]

All the chiefs of the nation were requested to meet in council. All the principal chiefs but one, and all the sub chiefs but two were there. Captain Bennett, Indian agent, his interpreter, and Brother Ammon M. Tenney were also there.

Major Powell led the way by introducing me to the council as a representative of the people who lived on the west side of the Colorado River, called 'Mormons.'

He stated that he had lived and traveled with these people, and, by acquaintance, had formed a very favorable opinion of them. He said that they were an industrious people, who paid their quota of taxes in common with other citizens of the United States, from which the Navajoes were paid their annuities.30

Additional information is given about the Fort Defiance trip from Ammon's records. To construct the ferry for crossing the Colorado River, we learn that two, 12-foot-long cottonwood logs were hewed to a thickness of about three inches, and then 1 x 8 slabs were nailed across from log to log. The party then traveled to Oraibi. After leaving Oraibi, the group made its way east to Fort Defiance. On the way, two impressive Indians began following the men. These Indians had beautiful horses which had some silver decora-tions. The Indians spoke in soft tones and presented an aristocratic demeanor.

30 Hamblin, 106-107.

28

Illustration 21: John Wesley Powell and Indian

Illustration 22: John Wesley Powell and Indian

Ammon wrote, “Two fine looking young men on fine horses and wearing much jewelry . . . dropped into line behind us obeying an unwritten law by leaving a distance between us.”

The presence of the uninvited Indians caused anxiety for the Hopi guide and for Ammon, however, it is reported that Major Powell seemed calm and confident. Ammon said the trail soon,

. . . took a sudden turn to the east. From the top of our present situationwe could see our trail lay parallel with an elevated bench land and as from an electric thunder cloud on a clear day our ears were saluted by a terrible war whoop, which reverberated in every corner, which made it appear to us that we were surrounded by an army of our would-be assassins. The Hopi interpreter's face was of a death-like hue . . . around his mouth was a froth, his whole appearance was distracted.31

The men dismounted and tightened their saddles. Ammon continues:

. . . with a prayer on my lips prepared for death. As I lit from my saddle I saw two warriors leap from rock to rock toward the scene of action. I said to Major 'There they come, the first overt act on their part means war to me and I shall sell my life dearly.' I loaded my repeater and set the trigger at half cock and we took up our march as though nothing had happened, a bold move indeed. . . . The two behind us closed up with us, which at that tragic moment was equal to saying, 'We also want a hand in dispatching the booty.' A few rods brought them within twenty-five yards of the two raving maniacs who were approaching and at this critical moment our companions rode quietly around us and in an unusually mild tone talked to the approaching two and they reluctantly laid their guns down on the grass and came forward.32

Major Powell showed good sense and bravery. He dismounted and told Ammon to put his gun away. He then unfastened two sacks of tobacco from his mount, walked to the hostile Indians, slapped one of them on the back, laughed heartily, and gave the Indians the tobacco. The party then continued to Fort Defiance in peace.

31 Smiley, 92.32 Smiley, 92.

29

Illustration 23: This bridle is found in the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. Notice the silver disks on the sides of the Indian's bridle.

One of the interpreters during the Fort Defiance meetings was Lorenzo Hubbell. He translated the English speakers' words first into Hopi and then into Navajo. Of course, English was also translated into Spanish and visa versa by Ammon. (In a later part of this history, Hubbell appears in St. Johns, Arizona as a political mediator between Ammon and Solomon Barth.)

At Fort Defiance during the two days of negotia-tions, feelings toward the white men were often hostile. For example, Tenney reported that a change had come over the Indian from one day to the next. He said,

The excitement was terrible to witness. Their moves, their gestures, their war-like attitude as they rode the very animals they had stolen, flaunting them in our faces like saying, 'Here are your horses, take them if you can.' They laughed and sneered at us carrying a taunt of defiance over us.33

The whites requested the Indians return the stolen stock, but Chief Barboncito said the animals had been traded several times among the Indians, and they could not be returned at this point. The white negotiators accepted that but Ammon said it was hard to see an Indian riding one of his horses.

The trip was successful for both Hamblin and Powell although for different reasons. Speaking of this trip, Hamblin said of Ammon, “Through Ammon M. Tenney being able to converse in Spanish, we accomplished much good.” From the Navajos' point of view, the meeting was good too. In essence, the Indians said, “We hope we may be able to eat at one table, warm by one fire, smoke one pipe, and sleep under one blanket.”34

33 Smiley, 92.34 McClintock, 83.

30

Illustration 24: Lorenzo Hubbell - Source - Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, Archieves Division, #02-9367

31

Illustration 25: One of the Hopi Villages

Regarding the above picture, the two white men on the right are Jacob Hamblin and John Wesley Powell. Powell is likely learning from the Southern Paiutes what happened to his men who climbed out of the Grand Canyon on Powell's first expedition. This picture was likely not at Fort Defiance. This meeting likely occurred near Mount Trumbull (north side of the Grand Canyon). According to Powell's and Hamblin's histories, the men made such inquiries shortly before Powell's second expedition in 1871.

1872 – Ammon Marries a Second Wife

In 1870, the David Udall family settled in Kanab, Utah. This allowed the Udalls and the Tenneys to get acquainted. Then in 1872, a plural marriage occurred for Ammon. His new wife was Eliza Ann Udall, sister of David King Udall and daughter of David Udall and Eliza King. Ammon was 28 and Eliza Ann was 17. The marriage, performed in Salt Lake City, eventually resulted in the birth of two children.

1874 – Three Navajos Killed in Utah

In January 1874, two years after Ammon's second marriage, the peace negotiated by Hamblin, Powell, and Tenney in 1870 unraveled when four Navajos came into Southern Utah to trade with the Utes. While north of the Colorado River, the Indians got caught in a snow storm and could not get back home.

32

Illustration 26: Photo Source - National Archives

To survive, the young bucks killed a calf which belonged to a non-Mormon named McCarty. When McCarty discovered the act, he, along with Frank Starr and others, descended on the Indians and killed three of them. The fourth Indian, although wounded, returned to his home. When the injured survivor told how he and his companions had been abused, the peace with the Mormons was shattered. The Navajos began to prepare for vengeance and for battle. Ammon became involved in this event. Hamblin said:

Arriving at Kanab I found Hastele [a Navajo chief] and his party, including two good interpreters. I had been away so much, that my family seemed badly in need of my help at home, and I, at the time, thought I was justified in remaining with them. I requested Brother Ammon M. Tenney to go with Hastele over on to the Sevier River, and satisfy him of the facts concerning the murder of the young Navajoes.35

Although Jacob tried to stay at home, the anxiety he felt because of the Navajo unrest caused him to leave Kanab and to travel alone to Arizona to restore the peace. After he left Kanab, Bishop Levi Stewart sent a message with Jacob's son. The son pursued his father until he caught him. The son told his father to please return to Kanab, that the mission was far too dangerous. Jacob said,

I have been appointed to a mission by the highest authority of God on earth. My life is of [a] small moment compared with the lives of the Saints and the interests of the kingdom of God. I determined to trust in the Lord and go on.36

On route, two Smith brothers, not Mormons, joined Jacob. They wanted some high adventure. After traveling to Arizona near the Moencopi Wash, the three men arrived around 1 February 1874. The Indian council started,

. . . in a lodge twenty feet long by twelve feet wide, constructed of logs, leaning to the center and covered with dirt. There was only one entrance.

Hamblin and the Smiths were at the farther end. Between them and the door were 24 Navajos. In the second day's council came the critical time.

35 Hamblin, 140.36 McClintock, 89.

33

Illustration 27: Bishop of Kanab, Levi Stewart

Hamblin knew no Navajo and there had to be resort to a Paiute interpreter, a captive, terrified by fear that he too might be sacrificed if his interpretation proved unpleasant. His digest of a fierce Navajo discussion of an hour was that the Indians had concluded all Hamblin had said concerning the killing of the three men was a lie, that he was suspected of being a party to the killing, and, with the exception of three of the older Indians, all present had voted for Hamblin's death.

They had distinguished the Smiths as 'Americans,' but they were to witness the torture of Hamblin and then be sent back to the Colorado on foot. The Navajos refereed especially to Hamblin's counsel that the tribe cross the river and trade with the Mormons. Thus they had lost three good young men, who lay on the northern land for the wolves to eat.

The fourth was produced to show his wounds and tell how he had traveled for thirteen days, cold and hungry and without a blanket. There was suggestion that Hamblin's death might be upon a bed of coals that smoked in the middle of the lodge. The Smiths tightened their grips upon their

34

Illustration 28: According to Charles S. Peterson, who was an Associate Professor of History at Utah State University and and Associate Editor of the Western Historical Quarterly, this picture is thought to show Chief Tuba (in the center). The early pioneers named Tuba City (next to Moencopi) in honor of this chief. The picture comes from the Smithsonian Office of Anthropology.

revolvers. In a letter written by one of them was stated: 'Had we shown a symptom of fear, we were lost; but we sat perfectly quiet, and kept a wary eye on the foe. It was a thrilling scene. The erect, proud, athletic form of the young chief as he stood pointing his finger at the kneeling figure before him; the circle of crouching forms; their dusky and painted faces animated by every passion that hatred and ferocity could inspire, and their glittering eyes fixed with one malignant impulse upon us; the whole partially illuminated by the fitful gleam of the firelight (for by this time it was dark), formed a picture not easy to be forgotten.

'Hamblin behaved with admirable coolness. Not a muscle in his face quivered, not a feature changed as he communicated to us, in his usual tone of voice, what then we fully believed to be the death warrant of us all. When the interpreter ceased, he, in the same easy tone and collected manner, commenced his reply. He reminded the Indians of his long acquaintance with their tribe, of the many negotiations he had conducted between his people and theirs, and his many dealings with them in years gone by, and challenged them to prove that he had ever deceived them, never had spoken with a forked tongue. He drew a map of the country on the ground, and showed them the improbability of his having been a participant in the affray.'37

The three men walked away from this village and the conflict. Later, Hamblin took some Navajos to Utah, to the place of the killings, and Jacob convinced the Indians that the Mormons had not participated in the death of the braves.

1874 – Ammon and Jacob Leave for Fort Defiance

Two months later in 1874, word was received in Utah that some of the Indian missionaries south of the Colorado River were in danger from hostile Navajos. Brigham Young learned of this and passed the word to John R. Young in Kanab to take men to Arizona and help the missionaries return to Utah.

Jacob Hamblin felt this was a mistake because the Saints should not show fear to the Indians. John R. Young describes his role in this experience:

37 McClintock, 91.

35

Illustration 29: John R. Youngon his 60th Birthday

In the winter of 1874, four Navajos, the sons of a chief, were on a visit to the Utes. On the return trip, as they were camped one morning in a deserted house in Circle Valley, they were set upon by some stock men, led by Mr. McCarty, and three of the Indians were killed.

The fourth one was severely wounded, an ounce ball having passed clear through his body, just below the shoulder blades ; yet he lived, traveled one hundred miles over mountains and deep snow, swam the Colorado river, reached his homeland told his story. The Navajos believed the Mormons to be the perpetrators of this cruel tragedy. Two Mormon families and a few Indian missionaries were living at the Moancopy and Mawaby. Peokon, a war chief, visited these and demanded two hundred head of cattle as pay for their murdered sons, and thirty days was given in which to get the stock.

John L. Blythe and Ira Hatch dispatched the word to Bishop Stewart and me, and we telegraphed it to President Young. Upon receipt of the message, John W. Young telegraphed for me to raise a company of men and bring the families and all the missionaries to this side of the Colorado river, and leave the Navajos alone until they should learn who their friends are. Andrew S. Gibbons of Glendale, Thomas Chamberlain of Mt. Carmel, and Frank Hamblin of Kanab, with six men each, responded promptly to the call. We reached the Moancopy two days before the time set by the Navajos to make their onslaught. I found my task a hard and delicate one. Jacob Hamblin and John L. Blythe were older and more experienced in frontier life than I. Each of them, moreover, was presiding in some capacity over that particular mission, and so they were reluctant to yield to my counsel and suggestions. I have always felt thankful to Frank Hamblin and Ira Hatch; for, by reason of the loyal manner in which they supported me, the task was accomplished without loss or accident of any kind. This was my last labor in Indian matters.38

The men led by John R. Young (not John W. Young) left Kanab and Long Valley to give assistance to the Saints at Moencopi. Jacob Hamblin, Ammon Tenney, and a few others started for Fort Defiance to talk peace and to mitigate the conflict. Although a Navajo attack had been planned on the settle-ment, because of the Utah reinforcement, the Indian threat faded away, and Hamblin and party turned around at Oraibi. The Google map below shows the relationship between Moencopi (B), Oraibi (C), and Fort Defiance (A). In the histories various spelling are given for Moencopi (Moen Copie). Today the spelling is Moencopi.

38 John R. Young, Memoirs of John R. Young: Utah Pioneer 1847, (Salt Lake City: The Deseret News, 1920), 153-154.

36

Illustration 30: John L. BlytheLeader of the Moencopi Settlers

1874 - Ammon and Jacob Later Travel to Fort Defiance

Later in 1874, Ammon was again involved with Jacob Hamblin as Jacob worked to solve problems caused by the killing of the Indians. According to Hamblin,

It was decided to establish a trading post at one of the crossings of the Colorado, east of St. George. For this purpose a party returning to Kanab, we found Hastele [a Navajo chief] and his companion waiting for us. It was thought advisable for me, with Brother A. M. Tenney as Spanish interpreter, to visit the Indians on the east side of the Colorado River, and go to Fort Defiance and have matters properly understood there. We visited the Moqui towns, and had much interesting talk with the people.

Arriving at the Navajo agency, we found there a Mr. Daniels, who had been sent out by the government to inspect the Indian agencies. He had called on the agent at Fort Defiance to report the condition of his agency. Learning of the Utah difficulty with the Navajos, he made an effort to throw the blame on the 'Mormons.' 39

At Fort Defiance, Jacob explained the facts of the killings of the three Navajos as he understood them. After the meetings, Jacob left “full of thanksgiving.”

39 Hamblin, 142.

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1875 – Ammon Joins Dan Jones on a Mission to Mexico When Jacob Hamblin needed men to help him accomplish difficult tasks, Ammon was on the list. The same thing happened when Daniel Webster Jones needed some faithful, brave, hardy men for a mission to Mexico. Daniel included Ammon along with a few other men.

Ammon's record states: “I relieved myself of all financial obligations and true to the spirit woven in every bone of my body made ready to join the missionaries.”40

In a section of his book, 40 Years Among the Indians, Elder Jones tells of their common experiences; consequently, two chapters from that book are included here.41

At first Dan Jones was not a member of the LDS Church. He left Missouri as a volunteer to fight in the war against Mexico. After the conclusion of this conflict, Dan stayed in Mexico and learned Spanish. He was a rough, fighting man, and after accidentally shooting himself in the leg with his own gun, Dan was nursed back to health by some Mormons in the Provo area. Dan was near Provo because he had joined a group of men who were headed from Mexico to California. Dan was eventually baptized and then he dedicated his life to serving as a missionary to the Indians.

President Brigham Young called Dan Jones on a mission to Mexico. In preparation for his mission, Dan worked with Brother Meilton Trejo to translate into Spanish selected pages of the Book of Mormon. At this point, Dan and Ammon share the same story, so two relevant chapters from Dan Jones are included here.

40 Smiley, 95.41 Daniel Webster Jones, 40 Years Among the Indians (Springville, Utah: Council Press), p 181-

193. The book was first published by the Juvenile Instructor in Salt Lake City in 1890.

38

Illustration 31: Meilton Trejo

1875 – Mission to Mexico and the Dan Jones Journal

“While the work of printing was in the press, the brethren wanted to go on the mission were selected. It was agreed instead of going by railroad and ocean to Mexico, that we would fit up with pack and saddle animals and go through and explore Arizona on our trip. At this time there was but little known by our people of Arizona. Even Salt River Valley was not known by the head men. Hardy, able-bodied men of faith and energy were wanted for the trip. Besides myself there were selected, J. [James] Z. [Zebulon] Stewart, Helaman Pratt, Wiley C. Jones (my son), R. [Robert] H. Smith, Ammon M. Tenney, and A. [Anthony] W. Ivins.” “The book of one hundred pages was now ready, being bound in paper.”

“About the 1st of September, 1875, we appointed to meet at Nephi and start from there with pack animals. Two of the company, being in the extreme south, were to join us at Kanab. We left Nephi about the tenth of September, and with our books, some two thousand packed on mules, we started out. We had a good outfit for the trip. The people of the settlements, as we passed along, assisted us in every way. Some additions were made to our outfit. One place, Cedar City, gave so much dried fruit that it became necessary for us to have another pack mule, which was readily furnished. We stopped a short time at Toquerville, where Brother Ivins joined us. From here we went to Kanab where our company was completed by Brother Tenney joining.”

“The route chosen was by the way of Lee's Ferry, thence to the Moqui villages, Brother Tenney having been to these villages some years before, was to be our guide to that point, after which we were to make our way through an unknown country the best we could. Our instructions were to explore the Little Colorado. Some few years previous to this a large company had been called to go and settle Arizona. They had penetrated beyond the Colorado some forty-five miles, but finding no water had all returned except one small company, under Brother John Blythe, the names of which as far as obtained are, David V. Bennett, William Solomon, Ira Hatch, James Mangrum, Thomas Smith and son. These remained doing all

39

they could to carry out the design of the mission, until circumstances caused their honorable release. Their history and experience there would make quite a chapter, but I cannot claim the right or memory to record it.”

“One little incident I will relate, to show how I came to be called to explore Arizona in connection with the mission to Mexico, which could have been made in an easier way than traveling so far with pack mules. I was in President Young's office one day when several others were present. Brother W. C. Staines came in and was telling about having heard a Brother McMaster, of the 11th

Ward, related a remarkable occurrence whilst on this first Arizona trip. Brother McMaster's statement, as told by Brother Staines, was that there were several hundred persons with teams, in perishing condition. They had passed some forty-five miles beyond the Colorado and no water

could be found. Some one had gone on up the Little Colorado and found that entirely dry. “

“Brother McMaster being chaplain went out and plead with the Lord for water. Soon there was a fall of rain and snow depositing plenty of water for the cattle, and to fill up all their barrels. They were camped in a rocky place where there were many small holes that soon filled up. In the morning all were refreshed, barrels filled up, and all turned back rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord in saving them from perishing. They returned to Salt Lake and reported Arizona uninhabitable.”

“After Brother Staines had finished, some remarks were made by different ones. I was sitting nearby and just in front of Brother Brigham. I had just been telling him something about my labors among the Indians. He said nothing for a few moments, but sat looking me straight in the eye. Finally he asked, 'What do you think of that Brother Jones?'”

“I answered, 'I would have filled up, went on, and prayed again.' Brother Brigham replied putting his hand upon me, 'This is the man that shall take charge of the next trip to Arizona.'”

“Not long after crossing the Colorado we were overtaken by an Indian bringing us a telegram from President Young, sent to Kanab, directing us to visit Salt River Valley as he had been informed something about it since our departure. This changed our intended direction somewhat as we were intending to make toward the Rio Grande, a country that I was acquainted with.”

“On arriving at the Moqui villages, the Indians were much pleased to see us, and were very friendly. Their country and villages have been described so well and often that I will say but little about them. They are a peaceable, honest class, dwelling in villages that have a very ancient appearance on high bluffs, facing a dry, sandy plain and distant some sixty miles from the Little Colorado River. The Indians farm by catching the rain water which runs down from the hills, and conduct it upon the more sandy spots; thus gathering moisture enough to mature beans, pumpkins, early corn, melons and a few other early vegetable.”

“They have a number of peach trees that grow in the sand ridges, bearing a very good fruit of which they dry the most. They save and eat everything they possibly can. They own quite a number of horses, sheep, and goats. They seem to be happy, well fed and contented, making some blankets and clothing of a rude kind. As there may be readers of this work more interested

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Illustration 32: Helaman PrattParley P. Pratt's Son

Missionary with Ammon

in the travels and the country through which we passed than the mission in which we were engaged, for their benefit I will describe our outfit and mode of travel. On leaving Kanab there were seven of us with saddle animals. Brother Pratt rode a contrary mule. We had some fourteen head of pack animals. Our books were in convenient bales for packing. All our provisions, which were ample, were put up in uniform-sized canvas bags. There was one mule for water kegs and one horse for kitchen traps. The latter was well suited for his position, for nothing would excite him. We had to depend entirely on the grass to sustain our animals, as we could not carry grain for them. In the early travels of western explorers grass was the only feed. It was much more fresh and abundant than at the present time. Now throughout the western country almost every watering place is occupied by the ranch man's cattle.”

“At night our animals were hobbled and turned out. When any danger was expected we would guard them. If there was no danger we went to bed and hunted them up in the morning. Sometimes this was quite a labor. We had one span of mules that seemed determined to get back to Utah. We tried many times to hamper them, sometimes with seeming success, but they soon learned to travel side or cross-hobbled, or one tied to the other.”

“Most of us were old travelers, that is, we had all had considerable experience in handling animals in camp, but these mules showed more cunning and perseverance than any we had seen before. Once they traveled with hobbles some sixteen miles. I happened to strike their trail first. After tracking them about five mile I found Ammon Tenney's saddle horse with a few other animals. I managed to catch the horse, and with nothing but my suspenders for a bridle I followed on alone until I overtook the mules. They tried to run away from me, but I managed to head them back and drove them several miles before daring to take the hobbles off. The horse I was riding was quite sharp backed. By this

time, not like the king who cried, 'My kingdom for a horse,' I thought, 'My kingdom for a saddle.' So I commenced to study how to make one, and succeeded finely. I took off my overalls, pulled some hair out of the horse's tail and tied the bottom of the legs together, then pulled the grass and stuffed the overalls full – both legs and body. This formed a pad fast at both ends but separate in the middle. This I place lengthwise on the back of the horse with body end forward so that I could hold the waistband end together with one hand to keep the grass from working out. Under the circumstances this made me quite comfortable, and I drove the mules back to camp all right. My companions laughed heartily as I rode in, but acknowledged that I was a good saddler.”

“A few nights after we were discussing these mules, Brother Tenney proposed that we tie each mule to the other's tail. This worked like a charm. We had no further trouble, as they simply followed each other round and round and got their fill of travel without going very far from camp.There was some uneasiness felt by Brothers Tenney and Ivins about meeting the Indians who had killed Dr. Whitmore, as they had never come in to make peace with the Mormon settlements. As we neared the Moa-abby we were all somewhat anxious and kept a good look-out. Brother Tenney knew these Indians well and said he would be able to recognize them from any others. The Navajos who had formerly been hostile were now at peace and coming in to trade for horses; but the Indians dreaded were still supposed to be on the war path. On arriving at the Moa-abby we camped near the edge of some willows, keeping a good watch. We made an early camp shortly before sundown. Brother Tenney, who was on the alert, suddenly said, 'Here they are. We are in for it.'”

41

Illustration 33: James Zebulon Stewart Missionary with Ammon

“At this time about twenty Indians on horseback showed themselves some two hundred yards from us. They came somewhat slyly out of the willows. Brother Tenney recognized them at once as the hostiles. I told him to make friendly signs and tell them to approach, as he talked their language well. I told the rest to be ready but to make no moves. Brother Tenney and I stepped unarmed out from the willows and walked a little way in the direction of the Indians. They approached us slowly. Brother Tenney told them to come on as we were friends. We stood waiting for them to approach us. When they came up we shook hands and I was introduced as a Mormon captain who was a great friend to the Indians; one who never wanted to fight them and had a good heart for the Indian race. Really I felt no fear, for we were sent out as messengers of peace to this very people. Still I believed in being prudent and not giving them a chance to get the advantage of us, for this band of Indians were noted for their treachery even by the other Indian tribes.”

“Like most Indians, they wanted to know if we had anything to eat. I told them we had, and if they would do as I wanted them to that I would give them a good supper. They agreed to do so. I showed them where to make their camp, some twenty-five yards from ours, in an open spot. I told them that my men were not acquainted with them and were a little afraid, and that they must not go near them, but that Brother Tenney and I knew them and were not afraid of them. I told two of the Indians to bring some wood to our camp, which they did. I also told them to get their wood and water and turn their horses out with ours, and get everything ready before night, so that they would not want to leave their camp after dark, as our men might be scared if they moved about them. We had an abundance of provisions, so we gave them a good, hearty supper.”

“Brother Tenney and I talked with them until bed-time. They said they desired to make peace with the Mormons but were afraid to come in. I agreed to give them a paper next morning stating that we had met them and that they desired peace. Our party laid on their arms all night watching these Indians. None slept. They kept faith with us and not one of them stirred during the night. We had breakfast early in the morning and sent two of the Indians to bring up our animals. We gave them some more provisions, wrote their recommend and then started on, leaving the Indians cooking their breakfast, and we saw no more of them. I never heard of them committing any depredations afterwards.”

1875 - More on the Mission to Mexico and the Dan Jones Journal

“We visited a few days with the Moqui, who received us very kindly. After taking into consideration our instructions to visit Salt River Valley, we tried to hire an Indian to pilot us across the country to the Little Colorado River, wishing to strike it at the nearest point. We were told that there was no water on the route. No one seemed to want the job to guide us. Finally an Indian was found who said he would go for a certain number of silver dollars. We agreed to give him his price. We packed up, filled our water kegs and started out in the afternoon. The guide was to come on in the morning and overtake us.”

“We traveled a few miles and camped. Next morning the guide came up, but demanded more pay. Finally we consented. We had traveled but a short distance when he demanded another advance. This we did not feel inclined to make so Brother Tenney told him we could get along without him. He then turned back. There was no trail. We took a southerly direction trusting to our own judgment to get through.”

“After traveling a few hours we approached near some hills where the country looked like there might be water. We turned off from our direction, went up into the hills and found a spring of

42

good, fresh water. We refilled our kegs and watered our stock. It was somewhat difficult as the banks were steep and the water was a foot or more below the surface.”

“All our stock drank except a little Mexican burro that would not approach the spring. We all got around him and pushed him up to the brink several times but he would slip away from us. We knew he was thirsty, but donkey-like, he would not drink. At length we grabbed hold of him, lifted him clear from the ground and put him in the middle of the spring, where he stood quite still but would not drink; so he beat us after all. We named the spring Tussle Jack. I doubt if anyone has been there since.”

“On leaving this place we were forced by the formation of the country to bear in a westerly direction. Soon we struck dim trails. Following along we came to some water holes in a ravine but passed on. The trails soon giving out we again turned south. At night we made a dry camp; traveled next morning about two miles, still no trail. We found some water, but it was barely sufficient to water our animals. We continued traveling all day without a trail. Towards night

we came to a large dry wash with cottonwoods growing along it. Having heard that the Little Colorado was subject to drying up, we thought this was perhaps the dry bed of the river. If so, we were in a bad fix for there was no knowing when we would reach water. Brother Ivins having a good horse rode out on a high hill to look for signs of the river ahead. The sun was just setting. He helloed back that he could see the river a few miles further on. This news was received with a shout of joy. We started on, traveling with the stars for guides. The country became quite rough and broken, and it was with much difficulty that we finally descended from the bluffs to the river bottom. We had to travel some time before getting to water.”

“We struck the bottom at a bend of the river where the direction of the stream was the same as our direction of travel. At length we got to water where grass and wood were plentiful. All felt happy, for here we knew by information that we would soon strike the main road leading to Prescott, Arizona. We had a map of this road and country. We had been traveling for some time through a strange country, but little known, some of it, even to the natives. We now felt as though we could get along with less anxiety. We remained a few days looking at the country further up the river so as to be able to report to President Young, which we did as soon as we found a chance to mail our letters.”

“We now took the wagon road leading from the Rio Grande to Prescott, followed a westerly direction and soon reached the Mogollon Mountains. The first night out from the Little Colorado we camped at a mail station which had two men in charge. They gave us considerable information about the country. Next day we reached Pine Station, a place then deserted. Here we met two men from Phoenix, Salt River Valley, a Dr. Wharton and a Mr McNulty. They had come out to meet their families, who were moving into Arizona. The night was cold and stormy. Next day was the same, so we laid over and had a good visit with these gentlemen. They were two of the most prominent men in Phoenix. McNulty was county clerk for several years. They both still live in the country. They were always kind and friendly to our people and never forget our first friendly acquaintance in the lonely camp on the wild mountain road.”

“We left our letter at the first mail station. We got the direction from these gentlemen as to the shortest and best road to Salt River, and as there were no natives to visit or country suitable for settling, before reaching Phoenix, we concluded to take the shortest route. We were now

43

Illustration 34: Anthony W IvinsLater an Apostle

Missionary with Ammon

traveling through a country that was considered somewhat dangerous, more from outlaws than Indians. The Apaches having been driven from their former haunts were now occupying the reservations at Bowie, San Carlos and Camp Apache, where they had recently been located by the management of General Crook. While crossing the Mogollon Mountains the weather was quite cold. As we descended toward the lower valley the temperature changed very rapidly. Instead of overcoats, we soon hunted shade trees.”

“We were much surprised on entering Salt River Valley. We had traveled through deserts and mountains (with the exception of the Little Colorado Valley, a place which we did not particularly admire) for a long ways. Now there opened before us a sight truly lovely. A fertile looking soil and miles of level plain. In the distance the green cottonwood trees; and what made the country look more real, was the shade trees, for miles. Strange as it may seem, at the time we started, in September, 1875, the valley of Salt River was not known even to Brigham Young.”

“Our animals were beginning to fail, as they had lived on grass since leaving Kanab. We bought corn at four cents a pound and commenced feeding them a little. Although Salt River Valley is naturally fertile, owing to the dryness of the climate, there is no grass except a little coarse stuff called sacaton.”

“We camped on the north side of the river. On making inquiry, we learned that Tempe, or Hayden's Mill, seven miles further up the river, would be a better place to stop for a few days than Phoenix. C. T. Hayden being one of the oldest and most enterprising settlers of the country, had built a grist mill, started ranches, opened a store, blacksmith, wagon shop, etc.”

“As we were passing through Phoenix, we met a few Indians, Maricopas and Pimas. I called one of them to me, and asked him if he understood Mexican. He said he did. I told him who were were and that our mission was to talk to the natives, that we wished to get the Pimas and Maricopas together, over on the Gila, and talk to them. He said, 'All right, how much will you pay me to go and notify them?'”

“I replied, 'We will pay you nothing. We are not traveling for money; we are here more for the good of your people than for our own. You can go and tell them or not, just as you please.'”“He said that he understood who we were, and would go and tell the Indians about us. On arriving at Hayden's place, we found the owner an agreeable, intelligent gentleman, who was much interested in the settlement and development of the country, as well as friendly toward the Mormons, he being a pioneer in reality, having been for many years in the west, and could fully sympathize with the Mormon people in settling the deserts. He gave us much true and useful information about the country and natives. Here we traded off some of our pack mules and surplus provisions. We had already traded for a light spring wagon, finding that the country before us could be traveled with wagons. We remained here a few days, camping at the ranch of Mr. Winchester Miller. His barley was up several inches high, but he allowed us to turn our animals into his fields, and treated us in a kind, hospitable manner. The friendly acquaintance made at this time, has always been kept up. Mr Miller was an energetic man, and manifested a great desire to have the Mormons come there and settle. He had already noticed the place where the Jonesville ditch is now located. He told me about it, saying it was the best ditch site on the river. What he said has proved true. We wrote President Young describing the country.”

“After resting a few days we started for the Gila, striking it at Morgan's station. This was near the lower villages of the Pimas. The Indians had heard of us and wanted to hear us talk. We did not say much at this place, but told the Indians we would stop at Sacaton, the upper settlement and have a good long talk with the people; that there we hoped to meet all the leading men of the tribe. Next day we traveled up along the north side of the river Gila, passing a number of the

44

Pima villages, talking a few words and giving out our appointment. Most of the way there was no road, and sometimes it was rather difficult to get along with our carriage.”

“We arrived that night at Twin Buttes or Hayden's trading station. Here quite a number of Indians came to see us, and we had a pleasant talk with them. It was here I met for the first time an Indian named Francisco Chico, who spoke Spanish quite well. This man will appear again in this history.”

“Next day early we arrived at Sacaton. There was no feed, except a little grass among the thorny brush on the river bottom. There was a trader here, doing quite a business. I went to his store and asked him if he had any hay or fodder for sale. He looked at me in surprise and said, “Mister, that is something the country don't produce.”

“'Then what are travelers to do that wish to stop over here for a few days?' I asked.”

“'There are no travelers with any sense that want to stop over here. You had better pack up and go on. You can get fodder up at Juan Largo's near Florence, but there is none here.'”

“I answered, 'Well we want to stop, and will have to put up with what there is. I see there is a little grass among the brush. We will have to feed all the more grain. We can get plenty of that, I suppose.'”

“'You had better not stay,' he said. 'If you turn your stock out they well be stolen from you. I have lived here ten years; am friendly with the Indians, but they are the biggest thieves you ever saw. I tell you not to trust them. There are some poor people now in camp down there, two men and a woman. The d ---d thieves have stolen their stock and will not fetch it back unless they pay them five dollars a head, and as they have not got the money they are in a bad fix. The Indians will serve you the same way.'”

“We concluded that here was a chance to commence to work and do some good. We made camp in an opening among the brush. Soon quite a number of Indians collected around camp. I told some of them to take our animals and watch them until night, then bring them in for their corn. We put a bell on one of the animals. I told the Indians not to take them so far we could not hear the bell. We went back to the trader's for some grain. I told him what we had done. He said I was like other 'smart alecks' that had just come among the Indians, but that we would be in the same fix as the party was who had lost their stock. I told him we would not lose one of our animals; but that I believed I could induce the Indians to return those they had stolen from the poor people. He said, “You must be either crazy, or in collusion with the Indians.”

“I told him we were neither. At feeding time all the animals were brought in. After feeding them they were again turned over to the Indians. Next morning all were brought in. This being the day appointed for the meeting, about ten o'clock the Indians commenced gathering. We found an excellent interpreter before requesting the people to listen to us. Finally there gathered between three and four hundred.”

“We were told that all the captains had arrived and were ready to listen to what we had to say. I told the interpreter to explain to them what we had been telling him. He talked quite a while in the Pima tongue, in an earnest, spirited manner. When he got through, a few remarks were made by some of the old men. The interpreter told us they were much interested in what they had heard and wished me to talk more, and tell them about their forefathers. Said they know nothing about them, but that they always understood that sometime there would be those coming among them who knew all about these things.”

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“I now felt it was my time to get the animals which had been stolen from the poor travelers. These people were sitting in sight, looking very much disheartened. I pointed to them and told the Indians it made me feel sorrowful to see those poor people there, and that it weighted on my heart so that I could not talk; and I wished some of the young men would go and hunt their stock up. I never hinted that I thought they had stolen them away. After this, there was some little side-talk among the Indians. The interpreter asked me to go on and talk to the people. The Indians got very much interested when I commenced to explain to them the Book of Mormon.(I will here say that in all my labors among the Indians I have never known of one failing to be interested when the Book of Mormon was introduced).”

“These Pimas were intelligent and capable of understanding, all we said to them. I then again referred to the disagreeable subject, telling them that I still felt grieved. One of the chiefs spoke up, asking me to go on, as the stock had been found and were being brought to the owners. I now felt free to talk and gave them much instruction.”

“Brother Tenney being a good interpreter, having had much experience among the native of Lower California, explained with much clearness the gospel of repentance to these people. A good spirit prevailed and the Indians manifested a desire to be instructed, acknowledged their degraded condition, and said they wished the Mormons would come to their country to live and teach them how to do. We all felt well paid for the hardships we had gone through, for we could see here was a chance for a good work to be done.”

“We were in no way annoyed. Our animals were watched and brought in regularly to feed. When we got ready to start on, everything was in good shape. We bade the Indians goodbye, promising that the Mormons would visit them again and some of them would probably come and live in their country.”

“The trader never knew how to account for our way of doing with the Pimas. From here we went a day's travel farther up the Gila to Juan Largo's villages.”

“Juan, a Papago Indian, presided over quite a settlement of his people. His son was educated so as to read. We gave him a copy of our book. These extracts from the Book of Mormon we had been presenting to a few of the Indians, and some of the Mexicans, on our road. Many years afterwards, the Indians showed me these books. They prize them highly.”

“At Juan Largo's the people came together and we taught them the same as we had the Pimas. Francisco Capulla went to this village with us. He became much interested in our teachings. His home was in Sonora; he was here only on a visit. I have often heard of but have never seen him since. We found that many of the older Indians on the Gila remembered the Mormon Battalion that passed through their country in 1846.”42

The next Jones chapter tells about the preparations the missionaries continued to make to get into Mexico. However, Ammon Tenney and Robert Smith chose not to go into Mexico but preferred to work with the Pueblo and Zuni Indians in New Mexico. Elder Jones writes, “Brothers Tenney and Smith, did not want to go into Mexico, so we agreed that they should have the privilege of laboring in New Mexico among the Pueblos and Zunis, and then return home. As they never reported to me, all I know about them is what I have learned from others. . . .”43

42 Daniel Webster Jones, 202.43 Daniel Webster Jones, 202.

46

McClintock writes about this same expedition.44 And this missionary expedition was reported by an Arizona newspaper, the Tuscon Citizen on 14 December 1875. A few weeks later, the same article, included here, was reprinted by the Deseret News.

Quite a number of immigrants arrived here yesterday from Utah. They started out on a mission to preach the gospel in Mexico but may conclude to stop in Arizona. They understand this kind of country and all about irrigation and are very much pleased with what they have seen of the territory and the reception given them by the people here.

The names of the gentlemen composing the party are Captain D. W. Jones, Heleman Pratt, J. Z. Stewart, Ammon M. Tenney, R. H. Smith, A. W. Ivins, Wiley H. Jone; Mr. J. Z. Stewart being secretary. We believe they are Mormons by profession but they are very intelligent men and just suited to develop a new section of country.45

Again, as stated, instead of going into Mexico, Ammon Tenney and Robert H. Smith split off from the Jones group to work with Zunis in New Mexico. Robert Smith writes that he and Ammon arrived at the Zuni village on 2 April 1876. The Elders were pleased with the Zuni people.46 Elder Smith said,

44 McClintock, 187.45 Reprinted in the Deseret News, 5 January 1876. http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?

CISOROOT=/deseretnews3&CISOPTR=739644&CISOSHOW=73966246 Robert H Smith, “Life Among the Zunis,” The Juvenile Instructor, Vol XI, (1876), 202.

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Illustration 35: The First Presidency of the LDS Church around 1925.Left to Right: Anthony W. Ivins, Heber J. Grant, Charles W. Nibley.

We held meeting after meeting with them and explained to them the principles of the gospel and also told them that the Book of Mormon was a history of their forefathers which greatly pleased them as they said it was in fulfillment of what had been promised them by their forefathers. Many of the leading men said they believed all we told them and that their fathers had often told them that at some time in the future a class of intelligent people would come among them and bring them a knowledge of whom they were and where they came from.47

After several weeks, Ammon and Robert returned to Utah and reported their success to President Young. President Young then called Lorenzo Hatch and John Maughan to take their families and make their homes near the Zuni villages.

1876 - Ammon Returns to Teach the Zunis

Ammon Tenney left Kanab to return to the Zuni villages. A newspaper correspondent writing from Kanab, Utah to the Deseret News in a letter dated 20 August 1876 said that Elders Ammon Tenney and Lorenzo Hatch were in good spirits as they left for a mission to the Indians in New Mexico. They would depart from Kanab in a couple of weeks. We read: “On the 6th a number of brethren who had been appointed to go on missions to New Mexico to preach the gospel to the Lamanite left Kanab in good spirits. Elders L. H. Hatch and Ammon M. Tenney are of the party.”

The next year, Elder Lorenzo Hatch sent a report back to the Deseret News, published 11 April 1877. As he tells about the mission, he gives credit to Ammon for his work with the Indians. Published in the paper's correspondence portion in a section entitled “Labors of the Elders,” Elder Hatch writes from San Lorenzo, New Mexico:

In company with Brother John Maughan and Wm. J. F. McAllister, I arrived here five months ago, I and Bro. Maughan with a portion of our families. We passed through the camps on the Little Colorado, where we were warmly received and aided on our journey. The object of our mission was to the natives of this country, some having received us in a

friendly manner, and a number having been baptized through the labors of Elders Ammon M. Tenney, of Kanab, and Robert H. Smith, the latter formerly of Logan. . . .

47 Robert H Smith, 224.

48

Illustration 36: Lorenzo Hatch

We learn about Ammon's and his father's activities for the next few years from Arizonan historian, Winn Smiley. She writes:

. . . In March of 1877 his father, Nathan Tenney, came to the Woodruff area where he and two of Ammon's brothers, Sam and Arthur, established 'Tenney's Camp.' In the summer of 1877 they exchanged their holdings at Woodruff for land near Ramah, New Mexico, which was called Savoia and Savoita [Cebolla and Cebolleta]. The Tenneys traveled to and from the Little Colorado River settlement as they proselyted, sometimes stopping at the Mexican town of St. Johns. Ammon Tenney traded for the Bar S or Windmill Ranch a few miles west of Zuni. His wives joined him and they lived there until 1882.48

1877 – Brigham Young Sends Ammon out Scouting

Early in 1877, Brigham Young asked Ammon, now recognized as a skilled scout and missionary, to select places in Arizona for colonization. Ammon did so. Others had explored the Little Colorado River area, but not many stayed. In an area called Woodruff,

. . . There appeared to have been no indication of occupancy when, in March, 1877, Ammon M. Tenney passed through the valley and determined it a good place for location. In the following month, however, Cardon and two sons, and Wm. A. Walker came upon the ground, with other families, followed, three weeks later, by Nathan C. Tenney, father of Ammon M., with two sons, John T. and Samuel, Hans Gulbrandsen and Charles Riggs.

For about a year the settlement was know simply as Tenney's Camp. L. H. Hatch was appointed to take charge in February, 1878. About that time the name of Woodruff was adopted, in honor of President Wilford Woodruff, this suggestion made by John W. Young. . . .49

Later, in his report to President Young, Ammon recommended St. Johns, Concho (16 miles west of St. Johns), the Meadows (eight miles northeast of St. Johns), and Woodruff.

To help understand the location of these towns, maps are shown below. As it turns out today, Woodruff is close to the Petrified Forest National Park.

48 Smiley, 97.49 McClintock, 156.

49

Notice the location of Joseph City left of Holbrook. Originally, Joseph City was called St. Joseph, named in honor of the founder and first president of the LDS Church. Today, the driving distance from Woodruff to Saint Johns is 53.2 miles.

50

Illustration 37: The Location of Woodruff, Arizona

Illustration 38: from Google Maps, a Satellite View of Woodruff, Arizona

Moving to St. Johns, Ammon located on the G Bar or Sedro Ranch some 35 miles north of the settlement.

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Illustration 39: St. Johns, Arizona

Illustration 40: Google Satellite Map Showing St. Johns, Arizona

1878 – Ammon Presides over the Zuni Mission

Around 1878, Elder Lorenzo Hatch was released as mission president, and Ammon was assigned this responsibility. In David Kay Flake's master's thesis, we read:

“Ammon M. Tenney replaced Lorenzo Hatch in presiding over the Zuni mission which included the Savoia Valley Navajo Mission and served until 1881 when he was replaced by Elder Tietjen.”50

1879 – Ammon Buys Land

In November 1879, Ammon was given authority by the church to purchase land in the St. Johns area. The land was purchased from Solomon Barth. Solomon Barth, a Jewish trader, settled in the area with his brothers, Morris and Nathan, in 1873. He laid claim to 1200 acres, and he sold his claim to Ammon for 770 head of American cows.51 Joseph Fish, a historian and contemporary of Ammon Tenney, wrote about the purchase:

After conference, Apostle Woodruff and some others started over to St. Johns to see about locating the saints at that place that had recently come in from Utah. A portion of the land and water right had been purchased by Ammon Tenney for the church, he gave 700 head of American cows and he afterwards bought some other claims for the church so that the whole purchase came to about $17,000. This was considered by many to be an extravagant price, and it was claimed by some that this might have been bought the year before for $3,000. Tenney did the main business and purchases through Sol Barth who doubtless saw that the Mormons were coming in and wanted homes, so he asked an extravagant price for his claims also for the claims of the others who sold. There were very little improvements on these claims, it was simply giving this sum for their claims on the water and land.52

50David Kay Flake, A History of Mormon Missionary Work with the Hopi, Navajo, and Zuni Indians, (Provo: BYU Thesis, July 1965), p 67.

51 McClintock, 170-171.52 Joseph Fish, Autobiography of Joseph Fish (In ossession of author), p. 196.

52

Illustration 41: Solomon Barth from the James McClintock Collection

1880 – January Weather Conditions in Northeastern Arizona

When we read about the pioneers, no matter where they lived in the United States, varied weather conditions always challenged the people and their animals. Such challenges have been already reported here with the 1862 floods in Southern Utah and the snow storms which threatened the missionary explorers in their travels. But winter conditions in Arizona in 1880 also should be noted. We may think of Northeastern Arizona as a land with a mild climate, more hot than cold; however this was not the case in the winter of 1880. The lucid prose of Joseph Fish, living in Snowflake, helps us understand what the Saints were up against in their fight for survival. After a day of rest and Sunday meetings, on Monday the 26th of January, Joseph Fish and his friend Joseph W. Smith went to the forest for house logs. Mr. Fish writes:

On the 26th I went to the timber to get out some more house logs. Joseph W. Smith also went along, he was getting out some for himself. The next day it snowed a little. We loaded up on the evening of the 27th [Tuesday] and during the night it commenced to snow and continued to fall all day. This snow was the heaviest that had been known for years. It fell, before it stopped, to the depth of from two to four feet deep in the forest.

We got our animals as soon as it was light and throwing off a part of our loads started for home, but on going about four miles we found it so hard getting through the snow which was constantly falling that we threw off the balance of our loads. Proceeding on we made but slow progress through the snow and before we reached Snowflake one of Joseph W. Smith's horses gave out and we left him. We toiled on through the snow until about midnight before we reached home and got warmed through. We went back for the give out animal the next morning but found it dead and half covered with snow.

This was one of the worst storms that I was ever out in. It was a regular blizzard, the snow in town was about 18 inches deep. This snow lay on the ground at Snowflake for about 1 month and the weather during that time was extremely cold, the thermometer getting down at times to 20 degrees below zero. This storm stopped all out door work with us and all we could do was to try to care for our animals.

Many of the saints who had just come in from Utah were living in their wagons, and they suffered very much and the stock that had just come in were poor and weak and were not able to stand such a storm and cold weather with scarcely anything to eat and great numbers of them perished. Some of the brethren who arrived at about this time lost the greater part of the stock.

John A. West was one of the heaviest losers, he had brought out quite a herd butthey nearly all perished on the road and after he got through. This severe winter and the scarcity of bread was a trying time for the poor saints who were struggling to make homes in Northern Arizona, and the scenes like that in the settling of Utah was one long to be remembered by those who passed through them.

53

In the spring as soon as we were able to work I went to putting in some grain. My team had lived through the winter but was very weak and poor. The horses were able to do but very little and I had no feed to give them, so I would go out with them some three or four miles to where the grass was a little better and camp and the next morning would bring in a little wood or fencing. They were not able to haul much more than one third of a load. About the last of March I hurt my back and was not able to do very much for a week or so.53

1880 - Apostle Lyman Reports

The heavy snows of January provided life-giving water in the spring and summer. Now in the fall, church leaders from Utah visited St. Johns. Based on some natural resources and a potential for prosperity, Ammon's choice may have been a good one. It was judged to be so by Apostle Francis Lyman because he wrote an encouraging report about the area after he visited there with Brigham Young and Erastus Snow.

Elder Lyman submitted his report to the Deseret News. It was published on 20 October 1880. While in St. Johns, the visitors talked with Solomon Barth, the man who originally sold his land to Ammon Tenney on behalf of the LDS church. Elder Lyman writes,

. . . we drove into first and while looking at their one story, flat-topped, dirty adobe buildings set in all shapes, and at random, Mr. Sol. Barth, one of the brethren who sold the land and water below and including the bridge in this town to Brother Tenney, came to us and talked with Bro.

Snow about the country.

Another gentleman who put in an appearance and shook us all heartily by the hand was the Governor of the Zunis with whom Mr. Cushing makes his home; he was away when we visited the village. At the 'Mormon' St Johns we found Brother Richey in charge, and his place we made our head-quarters. Brothers Hyrum Watkins, William James, R. N. Allred, and Edward Noble. Noble were the first of our brethren who came upon the place to settle after the purchase of the country by Brother Ammon M. Tenney and came about New Years Day 1880.

53 Joseph Fish, 198.

54

Illustration 43:Apostle Francis Lyman

Illustration 42:Apostle Erastus Snow

There are now 48 families, 350 souls, 3 adobe houses, 1 log house, 4 old Mexican houses and 40 shanties and tents; 140 acres of small grain, 121 acres of corn, 25 acres of cane and a mill to grind it, 15 acres of garden stuff including squashes, melons, beans, beets, mangles, etc., 1 acre of potatoes, 12 orchard trees, plenty of swine of good quality. Many yards are worked making a very poor dirty looking adobe. I am sorry they have better material to build of. They have good foundation rock one and a half miles away. Bro. James Richey, 'our host,' & Co. have a fifteen horse power steam saw mill that will be making lumber in the Mokeyone Mountains 30 miles away from St Johns, and in easy access of the other settlements in six weeks or less which will cut 4,000 feet a day.

The supply of pine timber in size from one up to four feet in diameter is inexhaustible. Their crops look well the soil is good and water poor. They are now settled in the flat very low among the farms but I trust they will see the wisdom of Bro. Snow in advising them to choose higher land for their town lots. When the purchase is completed and they find they have good title to plenty of water undisputed, they have a good place for a large flourishing settlement.

We spent the sabbath with the good people of this place when the Lord gave them much good council through Bro. Snow, Prest. Jesse N. Smith,54 Lorenzo Hatch and others in their Bowery, which was clean and proof against winds. The sides were made of grease wood a wall three feet thick and a good covering of brush overhead

The people seemed very much to enjoy the presence of the visiting brethren including Bros. Smith, Hatch and John H. Rollins who joined us at this point and made the rest of our tour with us round to Snowflake.

On Monday 20th, after a rather long call upon Mr. Barth in the upper St. Johns from whom we learned there were some chances for difficulty about the water claims purchased by Bro. J. C. Naile above the claim purchased by Bro. Tenney, we drove 3 miles in a southeasterly direction over a tolerably good uphill road to Round Valley on the headwaters of the Little Colorado which at this point is a very fine mountain stream.

Why this valley is called round is more than I can tell for it is as angular as it could well be, but it is a very fine little valley, but the heart and cream of it is in the hands of Mexicans and outside whites. This valley has very many natural advantages and is altogether a very desirable location. The climate is cold like Panguitch, plenty of good timber within 10 miles, plenty of good land and water. Our people will build up two villages in this valley four miles apart. The valley slopes generally to the north and lies up to the foot of the Mokeyone mountains. This valley has also another attraction. It has the county seat of Apache County.55

54 Jesse N. Smith was a 1st cousin of Joseph Smith Jr, a 1st cousin of William B. Smith, a 1st cousin of George Albert Smith, a 1st cousin, once removed of Joseph F. Smith, and a 1st cousin once removed of John Henry Smith. His daughter, Leah, married John Hunt Udall, mayor of Phoenix, Arizona and his son, Asahel Henry Smith, married Pauline Udall, daughter of David King Udall.

55 Deseret News, Salt Lake City, 20 October 1880.

55

1880 – Ammon and Others Work for the Railroad

The Lyman report stimulated more settlement from Utah, but according to McClintock, the people suffered for insufficient food. Luckily, a solution was found when many of the men found work with the railroad. Food supplies could then be purchased. McClintock writes:

Just as the Saints of Utah benefited by the construction of the Central and Union Pacific railroads, so there was benefit in northeastern Arizona through the work of building the Atlantic and Pacific railroad in 1880-1882. John W. Young56 and Jesse N. Smith, joined by Ammon M. Tenney, in the spring of 1880 took a contract for grading five miles, simply to secure bread for the people of the Little Colorado Valley. During the previous winter there had been a large immigration from Utah, where, erroneously, it had been reported the Arizonans had raised good crops, so comparatively little food was brought in. The limited crop of 1879 soon was consumed and the spring found the settlers almost starving. Lot Smith had loaned the people a quantity of wheat the previous season and much of the crop was due him.

Young and Smith went as far as Pueblo, where they secured their contract and on their return made arrangements with merchants at Albuquerque for supplies. The first contract was for a section about 24 miles east of Fort Wingate, N.M., and to that point in July went all the men who could possibly leave home. The first company was from Snowflake, Jesse N. Smith taking about forty men. Soon thereafter, flour was sent back to the settlements and there was grateful relief. After a while, Smith drew out of the railroad work.

Tenny returned to the railroad the following year to assist Young in filling a contract for the grading of 100 miles and the furnishing of 50,000 ties.57

56 Apostle John Willard Young, ordained by his father, Brigham Young, was never a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, but he was called as first counselor to his father on October 8, 1876. He served until President Brigham Young's death on August 29, 1877.

57 McClintock, 182.

56

Illustration 44: Jesse N. Smith

Illustration 45: John W. Young

The railroad work is also documented by reports from Thomas L. Greer which were sent to the Desert News. On 22 September 1880 the paper printed news about the same happy event just mentioned which allowed Ammon and other men in St. Johns to earn cash money by working for the railroad. We read:

We are indebted to Brother Thomas L. Greer for a few items of news written from St John, Apache County, Arizona on the 31st. A good many of the inhabitants of that place were at present working on the grading of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. Messrs John W. Young, Jesse N. Smith and Ammon M. Tenney having one contract of five miles which was nearly completed and another for the same distance not yet commenced.58

Ammon hauled supplies for the Little Colorado settlements from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He arrived in Snowflake on Friday and left the next day to return to Albuquerque. Fish writes:

Ammon M. Tenney came in from Albuquerque with a load of oats and returned the next day. Most of the teams that went down to Albuquerque on our arrival here returned on the 31st with tools and supplies which were greatly needed for we not only had been short of provisions but had no tools to work with.

During this time Smith, Young, and Tenney formed a company to complete a contract which required that they make a bed for the railroad. President Smith's motive for organizing the company was to supply work for the men, allowing them to buy supplies for their families. By August, President Jesse N. Smith concluded he was no longer needed, and that he should return to help in his own colony, Snowflake, so a financial settlement was made with Young and Tenney, and President Jesse N. Smith left the company. During this time, Young and Tenney provided boarding for men coming in from other communities. The men were in a camp near a location where the road was being prepared. As the track bed lengthened, the camp would move west to a new location.

With all the work, some of the men still took time out for Sunday meetings. On Sunday, September 5, Ammon joined August Wilkin and Edmund Richardson who all spoke in Spanish during the meeting because a few Mexicans visited the services.

1880 – Hard Issues for Ammon

By this time, Ammon had passed through many hardships, many regarding issues with the Indians. But also challenging was dealing with friends in politics and business. During 1880, a split developed between Ammon and Jesse N. Smith.

58 Deseret News, “From the South,” 22 September 1880.

57

In Arizona, anti-Mormon sentiments developed mostly because of polygamy issues. Also, those not members of the LDS church worried about the Mormon vote. Solomon Barth, an outsider, was forming a ticket for public offices, and Sol wanted the Mormon vote. If the Mormons supported him, this would show the gentiles that Mormons were willing to support an outsider. Through Lorenzo Hubbell, a friend to both Ammon and Sol Barth, Ammon sent word to Mr. Barth that Sol would have the Mormon vote. This was seen by Ammon as the best way to sooth troubled political waters, and the best way to avoid a Mormon/gentile division.

In the mean time, President Jesse N. Smith returned to Snowflake and helped create a ticket which would run against Mr. Barth. Ammon felt President Smith made a great error in doing this, and he had hard feelings against President Smith for not negotiating with Solomon on a ticket.

Ammon argued his case before John W. Young and and his brother, Brigham Young Jr. These men seemed to agree with Ammon, yet nothing happened to correct the direction that the politics were moving. Because of these hard feelings, Ammon resigned as president of the Indian mission. He was replaced by Elder Ernest A. Tietjen in 1881. But this would not be Ammon's last opportunity to be a mission president. As will be shown later, Ammon was called to be the president of the Mexican Mission.

During 1880 another relationship problem struck Ammon hard. This occurred because of a conflict between Ammon and John W. Young. But before learning about this case, consider a few events in the life of John W. Young.

When John Willard Young was 11 years old, his father ordained him an apostle.

58

Illustration 46: Solomon Barth (left) and Governor George W. P. Hunt. He was the first governor of Arizona and was elected seven

time. Mr. Hunt called himself the "Old Walrus."He stood 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed close to 300 pounds.

In fact, Brigham ordained two more of his sons apostles, Brigham Young Jr and Joseph Angell, but only Brigham Jr became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve.

Nevertheless, “On April 8, 1873, Brigham Young added John, Brigham Jr., George Q. Cannon, Lorenzo Snow, and Albert Carrington as additional counselors to him in the First Presidency. After Young's First Counselor George A. Smith died in September 1875, John Willard Young was called as First Counselor to his father on October 8, 1876.”59

Some church leaders did not like John W., and they blocked his becoming a member of the Quorum. If John would have become a member of the Quorum, he would have been in line to become the president of the church as one of the longest ordained apostles. Some felt such an event would seriously damage the church.

Eventually, John was brought before the Quorum on three different occasions for alleged issues of misconduct. He was accused of: (1) living a lavish life style by using church funds, (2) making his home in New York City, and (3) not spending enough time with his church duties.

Although the events mentioned above happened after the event described next, perhaps John's later behaviors provide a key to understanding his earlier actions. The new contract called for 100 more miles of road. But Ammon was no longer a partner, and he could not understand why John cut him off. Being cut out of the partnership hurt Ammon deeply. Joseph Fish, a careful observer, was in the middle of all that was happening. His comments follow:

During their journey he had taken a contract from Supt. Smith of 100 miles of road to grade and the contract might be extended to 150 miles. In taking this contract he left Ammon M. Tenney out, taking the whole thing in his own name. Brother Tenney felt very much hurt about this as they had been in partnership on the work that they had been doing and he thought that the partnership should continue, he talked some of suing Brother Young. He claimed that they were partners in this first contract and should still continue to be so in taking the next contract. Brother Tenney had many trials and disappointments and shed many bitter tears over them and grieved over them very much. Instead of making them lighter than they were he always made them worse than they were, which constantly kept him in hot water.60

59 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Willard_Young60 Joseph Fish, 207.

59

Illustration 47: Joseph Fish

1881 – Ammon Leaves the Railroad Camp and Returns to St. John

Joseph Fish, bookkeeper for the Young and Tenney Company, worked to balance the books. Joseph writes:

On February 1st, 1881 I balanced up my accounts for the month of January which showed the sales amounted to about $23,000 including supplies forwarded to Holbrook. Young and Tenney were now settling up their accounts as their contract was practically completed, and the next contract, as I have stated, Brother Young had taken for himself. A F. Doremus from Salt Lake City had come out to look after John W. Young's business and to aid in settling up with Brother Tenney. The first week in February was spent in settling up the accounts of Young and Tenney and dividing up the property. Brother Tenney took mules, wagons, etc. for what was coming to him. He got some advantage of Brother Young who took all the debts, liabilities, and responsibility of the work. The settlement was completed by the 6th and Brother Tenney who had figured on taking a contract in his own name started for St. Johns.61

On February 6, Joseph Fish and Ammon Tenney finished their business at the railroad camp and started for home: St. Johns for Ammon; Snowflake for Joseph. Joseph Flake wrote:

He [Ammon Tenney] left the camp about noon and went over the mountain to the Neutra, the road had been broken through and we got over without much difficulty. February 7th we started early and after going about three miles one of the axle-trees that had been broken gave out and we changed all the load into the other end of the wagon and tied up the broken axletree and went on about two miles further when one of the thimbles came off the wagon. We got some sagebrush and made a fire heating the thimble and put it on again cooling it with snow. We then went on without further trouble and reached St. Johns the next day, where I remained one day waiting for a chance to go on to Snowflake.62

1881 – Ammon and Joe McFate Remain Good Friends

Ammon and his brother-in-law, Joe McFate, remained close friends through the years. Their friendship was remembered by Beatrice Riordan, a granddaughter of Joe McFate. One of Joe McFate and Eliza Tenney's 13 children was Roy Lisk McFate. Roy married Gladys Duke, and they had a daughter named Beatrice McFate. Beatrice married Richard Riordan. Richard was the son of Michael James Riordan. (Today the Riordan Mansion is a major tourist attraction in Flagstaff, Arizona.)

61 Joseph Fish, 210.62 Joseph Fish, 211.

60

Richard worked in the family lumber business in Flagstaff. During an oral history project, Richard and Beatrice Riordan were interviewed, and the following transcribed text comes from Beatrice. Mrs. Riordan describes a close relationship between her grandfather and Ammon Meshach Tenney:

In 1881 my grandfather came up here to Flagstaff, left his family in St. John's, came up here to Flagstaff, and out here. Now I don't know… I don't believe the Riordan mill site was there at that time in 1881. Richard could tell you that. Wasn't there a Riordan in 1882? Okay. In 1881 my grandfather was situated about a mile north of where that Riordan mill became situated and uh, and he was running a tie operation. He had a contract with the railroad to haul ties. And he hauled them from that northernly mill… they had a kinbook (?) somewhere north of town.

Uh, my [Grand] father and his [Olive Eliza] wife's brother, M. Tenney (sp?) were dear friends and they worked together and now, the contract may have been in both their names, I really don't… I don't know about that. I know my grandfather was one of them and uh, so, for three years the family was situated in St. Johns, but he was hauling ties over to… around near Holbrook.63

Fort Moroni, owned by John W. Young, was a few miles north of Flagstaff. A stockade was constructed around the fort for protection from the Apache Indians. This location was one of several where logs were harvested for railroad ties. Young's contract called for 50,000 ties. Later this was a cattle ranch.

63 Flagstaff Public Library Oral History Project, Richard and Beatrice Riordan, Interview number NAU.OH.28.79 http://library.nau.edu/speccoll/images/text/txt/38226.htm#a119

61

The site of Fort Moroni was between the car and the red home. A well-researched, short book on the history of this area is Fort Valley Then and Now: A Look at An Arizona Settlement by Susan Deaver Olberding.

At this location north of Flagstaff, historian have erected a monument to remember Fort Moroni and the history of Fort Valley. The plaque is shown below.

62

Illustration 48: Old Fort Moroni Location. Photo by author.

1882 – Ammon Again Works on the Railroad

The hard feelings felt against John W. Young passed, and Ammon was later employed by John in fulfilling the new railroad contract. McClintock writes: “Tenney returned to the railroad the following year to assist Young in filling a contract for the grading of 100 miles and the furnishing of 50,000 ties.”

1882 – In March, Ammon is in St. Johns

Learning again from the faithful record keeping of Joseph Fish, we find Ammon in St. Johns during March of 1882.

On March 22nd, I started for St. Johns to attend our Stake Conference which was to be held at that place. I took my wife Eliza with me and drove as far as the Tanks where we had a pleasant evening singing. There were about 23 persons in the company and these visits to different places were like a picnic and the people went for enjoyment as well as for religious duties. The next day we drove to Concho (then called Erastus) where I took dinner with Columbus R. Freeman. We then drove on to St. Johns where I stopped with brother Ammon M. Tenney.64

For this next event, the exact date of Ammon's presence is not yet clear, but McClintock connects Ammon with a settlement in New Mexico which was started in 1880, abandoned, and restarted in 1882. Even with an ambiguous date for Ammon's presence, the reference is worth noting:

In 1880 were Indian troubles that caused abandonment of the locations, but a new start was made in 1882, when a number of families came from the deserted Brigham City and Sunset. A new village was started, about 25 miles east of the Arizona line, at first known as Navajo, but later as Ramah. The public square was on the ruins of an ancient Indian pueblo. Ira Hatch came in the fall. A large degree of missionary success appears to have been achieved among the Zuni, with 165 baptisms by Ammon M. Tenney, but at times there was friction with Mexican residents. The land on which the town stood later had to be bought from a cattle company, which had secured title from the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company.


63

1882 – Ammon's Father, Nathan Cram Tenney, is Shot

In 1882, a tragic event happened to the Tenney family. According to McClintock,

There was a wild time in St. Johns on the day of the Mexican population's patron saint, San Juan, June 24, 1882, when Nat Greer and a band of Texas cowboys entered the Mexican town. The Greers had been unpopular with the Mexicans since they had marked a Mexican with an ear 'underslope,' as cattle are marked, this after a charge that their victim had been found in the act of stealing a Greer colt. The fight that followed the Greer entry had nothing at its initiation to do with the Mormon settlers.

Assaulted by the Mexican police and populace, eight of the band rode away and four were penned into an uncompleted adobe house. Jim Vaughn of the raiders was killed and Harris Greer was wounded. On the attacking side was wounded Francisco Tafolla,

whose son in later years was killed while serving in the Arizona Rangers. It was declared that several thousand shots had been fired, but there was a lull, in which the part of peacemaker was taken up by 'Father' Nathan C. Tenney, a pioneer of Woodruff and father of Ammon M. Tenney. He walked to the house and induced the Greers to surrender.

The Sheriff, E. S. Stover, was summoned and was in the act of taking the men to jail when a shot was fired from a loft of the Barth house, where a number of Mexicans had established themselves. The bullet, possibly intended for a Greer, passed through the patriarch's head and neck, killing him instantly. The Greers were threatened with lynching, but were saved by the sheriff's determination. Their case was taken to Prescott and they escaped with light punishment.65

Although the next picture is poor, it is helpful. The town likely had a similar appearance in 1882 during the gun battle. In the middle of the picture is the Barth property, identified by the tower.

65 McClintock, 172.

64

Illustration 49: Nathan Cram Tenney

The gunman in this tower shot Nathan on the 24 June 1882, one month before Nathan's 65th birthday. The Greers had been asked to stay away, but that only meant the cowboys could NOT stay away. It was like telling children, “Don't put beans in your ears.”

From left to right: Joseph Woods, Jeff Tribbet, Nat Greer, Hiram “Hi” Hatch, and Albert Porter.

The picture comes from the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, Archives Division, No 97-9493.

65

The above picture was originally Barth property. Mexicans fired shots from this building and tower. The cowboys fired shots from the adobe house shown below. At the time, the adobe house was unfinished, and the adobe-house picture was taken after 1882.

66

Illustration 50: Picture from the St. Johns Historical Society and Museum

Illustration 51: Photo from St. Johns Family History Center

Although one Mexican was wounded (Francisco Tafolla), it was a bad day for the cowboys. The Mexicans shot Hi Hatch in the shoulder and Harris Greer in the hand.

Another bullet stuck Jim Vaughn in the neck and passed through his head. Jim bled to death. Nathan Cram Tenney walked up the street with a white flag and went into the adobe building. A cease fire was arranged, so Nathan walked out of the house. A Mexican then shot and killed Nathan. Shortly after, the Sheriff arrested the cowboys.66

Ammon's father was buried in St. Johns next to his wife, Olive Strong. She was buried a year and a half earlier after she died on 12 January 1881.

When we look back at early pioneer settlements, we observe sparse conditions: no green lawns, no paved streets, no shade trees, no colorful flowers. Many times, building supplies including lumber and nails were hard to obtain, yet the pioneers wanted beauty if they could have it.

They also wanted peace, security, water, milk, meat, fruit, vegetables, and cleanliness. Some remembered the verdant slopes of Europe. Some remembered the gardens and trees of eastern United States. These old pictures of St. Johns, Arizona give youa glimpse into Ammon's world.

66 Cameron Udall, Images of America: St. Johns, (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2008), 40-42.

67

Illustration 52:Nathan's Wife, Olive Strong Tenney

With an eye for beauty, the pioneers worked to make the world a better place.

Shown here is the Stake Academy where learningwas cherished and practiced. Notice the students standing in the front of the building.

The building was opened for use in 1899. From David King Udall's autobiography, we read:

In no other phase of our ministry did we put forth greater effort than we did in establishing and maintaining our Church school -- the St. Johns Stake Academy. While I was in England on my mission I had solemnly vowed if the Lord blessed me with children they should have all the educational advantages I could possibly give them. The memory of my vow urged me on in this undertaking.

Back in the year 1899 we first opened the St. Johns Stake Academy, with Elder John W. Brown as principal. He deserves great credit for his wholesome and forceful work. Pearl tells me that there were fifty of Brother Brown's students (now teachers themselves) in attendance at a Teacher's Institute in Phoenix in 1906. Three of our daughters were in this group. . . . 67

67 David King Udall, Arizona Pioneer Mormon David King Udall: His Story and His Family, 1851 – 1938, 152.

68

1883 – Ammon Still in St. Johns

In some locations where church members built homes, worked to develop farms, and promoted a gentle society which fostered learning and industry, the saints met opposition and resistance. This happened in St. Johns, Arizona. Here, according to Joseph Fish, the school board of supervisors took the school district away from the Mormons and gave the district to the Mexicans. The LDS leaders wanted the district back, and they planned to solve this issue by going to court. Joseph Fish was invited to handle the case, but he declined. Brother Fish's journal entry mentions Ammon.

On the 13th [January] Bishop Udall and a few of the leading men of the Mormon community had a consultation to see what could be done about the recovery of the District. They had sent for me to come over and take the case for them. I told them that with the store and my duties in the church that I had more already on my hands than I could properly manage, and did not think that I could possibly leave the store business and come over there to look after this case which might drag along for months. So it was decided to retain Harris Baldwin in the case. He was a good lawyer but had not been in the place very long.

Ammon M. Tenney made the arrangements with him, and he thought that he could win the case, but later when it came up it went against the people just the same as every case did when the Mormons were trying to regain their rights through the courts. It was quite evident that the Mormons could not win a case in the courts at this period when the ring were fighting them to the bitter end.68

1884 – Four of Ammon's Children are Born in St. Johns

In 1884, Ammon was still in St. Johns. In fact, his wife, Anna Sariah Eagar, bore four children in this area during these years: 1879, 1882, 1884, and 1887. Joseph Fish included Ammon in his 1884 journal entry for May 15-16. He wrote:

On the next day I started to St. Johns to attendour quarterly conference and took my wife Elizaand daughter Della. I drove to Concho where meeting was held, the apostles occupying themost of the time. We stopped with Sister Wilhelm,we reached St. Johns the next day where I stopped with Ammon M. Tenney.69


69

Illustration 53: Anna Sariah Eagar Tenney, first wife. Eagar, Arizona

was named after her brothers.

1884 – Polygamy Caused Much Strife

At this time in Arizona, some people resented the Mormons because some church members practiced polygamy. For these citizens the thinking was, “If your views on marriage do not match my own, then first, you should lose your constitutional rights, and second, you should be killed.”

As you will see from the following words, the comments by the editor of The Apache Chief represented this point of view. For any man who had more than one wife, George A. McCarter recommended murder by shotgun, hanging by rope, or grinding the individual into oblivion. Editor McCarter's thinking followed simple logic: “All people who practice polygamy should be murdered. My neighbors practice polygamy; therefore, my neighbors should be murdered.” The Apache Chief published the following on 20 May 1884:70

Brigham Young Jr., one of the twelve great whore mongers of the Mormon Church, is in town. A rope would be a good lesson for him. How did Missouri and Illinois get rid of the Mormons? By the use of the shot gun and rope. Apache county can rid herself of them also. In a year from now the Mormons will have the power here and Gentiles had better leave. Don't let them get it.

Desperate diseases need desperate remedies. The Mormon disease is a desperate one and the rope and shot gun is the only cure. The government refuses to do anything, and the "people" of Apache county must do something or the Mormons will soon drive them out. Take the needed steps while it is yet time. Don't let them settle on any more of our lands; don't let them stop in Apache County. Hang a few of their polygamous leaders, such as Jesse N. Smith, Udall, Romney, Hunt and others of this nature and a stop will be put to it.

The time has come when every man should declare how he stands on the Mormon question. If he wants an office let him define his position thoroughly. No half way cowards need apply. Nobody but out-spoken, true blue anti-Mormons will hold an office in Apache county. The good of the country demands this, and we expect every Gentile to see that it is carried out. No Mormons should be allowed to cast a vote. He has no rights and should be allowed none. Down with them. Grind out their very existence or make them comply with the laws of the people and decency.

69 Joseph Fish, 236.70 Joseph Fish, 237.

70

Mr. McCarter's editorials promoted the arrests of his neighbors, and in June 1884, the marshall arrested Ammon for practicing polygamy.

After being charged, taken to Prescott, and tried, he was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment in a federal prison and fined $500.

In a letter written by Catharine Cottam Romney, we read of arrests which included Ammon. Catharine writes:

I understand that Br. [Peter J.] Christopherson of Round Valley and Ammon Tenney passed through Holbrook this week with the U.S. Marshall on the way to Prescott under arrest for Polygamy, so you see the Officials in this Territory appear to mean business, and are quite zealous in the good work of persecuting or prosecuting the Mormons, . . . In the polygamy trials, Ammon M. Tenney, C. J. Kemp, and Peter J. Christofferson were convicted of unlawful cohabitation. They were fined and sent to the Detroit House of Corrections, the 'American Siberia' over a thousand miles away.71

71 Catharine Cottam Romney, edited by Jennifer Moulton Hansen, Letters of Catharine Cottam Romney, Plural Wife (Urbana: University of Illinois, 1992), 94.

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Illustration 54: Detroit Michigan House of Corrections - the way it lookedwhen Ammon was an inmate.

Illustration 55: Mormon Inmates Convicted of Polygamy

After serving two years, Ammon received a pardon for good behavior.

'William J. Flake and P. N. Skousen had already returned home after serving a six-month sentence in Yuma,' the St. Johns Stake history says. 'Ammon Tenney, Charles Kempe, and Peter J. Christopherson, who had been sent to the Detroit House of Corrections on Polygamy charges, were soon pardoned for good conduct.'72

Although the Mormons believed in law, in the Constitution, and in the divine destiny of America, they felt abused by their government. Let Jacob Hamblin's case be considered as representative of many of the Saints. At a time when he and his family were weakened, damaged, and pursued by government agents, at a time when Jacob had three wives, Jacob made this statement before a group which gathered in the St. George Tabernacle:

Thirty-one years ago, the tenth of this month, I passed over the present site of St. George as an Indian missionary, seeking to benefit the remnants (Indians) of the land, residing in this vicinity. My great-grandfather fought in the French and Indian War, my grandfather in the Revolutionary War and my father in the States and in the Republic of Mexico, seeking for the religious liberty fought for by my forefathers and denied me in the United States.73

Some reporters looked at Mormon society with more kindness and objectivity. According to the Mormon pioneers themselves, the report which follows from the Prescott Miner would describe many of their camps and settlements throughout the West.

The work done by these people is simply astounding, and the alacrity and vim with which they go at it is decidedly in favor of cooperation or communism. Irrespective of capital invested, all share equally in the returns. The main canal is two and a half miles long, eight feet deep, and eight feet wide. Two miles of small ditch are completed and four more are required. Their diagram of the settlement, as it is to be, represents a mile square enclosed by an adobe wall about seven feet hight. In the center is a square, or plaza, around which are buildings fronting outward. The middle of the plaza represents the back yards, in which eleven families, or eighty-five persons are to commingle. They are intelligent, and all Americans.74

1886 – Ammon Returns to Apache County from Prison

In St. Johns about 10 month after Ammon's return, Ammon's wife, Anna Sariah Eagar, gave birth to a son, John Eagar, on 14 September 1887. John lived until he was nine years old and probably died in Mexico.

72 http://storyoftheamericanwest.com/polygamy.html73 Pearson H. Corbett, 415.74 McClintock, 193-194.

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A year after Ammon returned to Apache County, Ammon joined with Christopher-son and Gilbert D. Greer to accept a mission call to the Papagos Indians. Their mission started 30 November 1887. According to Ammon, he took: “a tent, cooking utensils, two horses, a mule, a light wagon, and one saddle.”75 For several months, the wagon was home for Ammon and his companions as they traveled many miles from one side of Arizona to the other. The men also went into Mexico as far south as Caborca. Tenney said that he walked, rode on horseback and in his wagon for at least 5,000 miles during this mission.

Prior to Ammon's mission, Church leaders worked to purchase land in Mexico so the saints would have a place to live, a place where they would not be jailed for polygamy. On 5 February 1885 about 60 of the leading men in Northern Arizona moved with their families to the colonies. With this many people coming into Mexico at the same time, it was difficult for the saints to survive because the pioneers lacked food.

After his mission, Ammon found his way into the Mormon Colonies at Colonia Diaz, but his families were not always with him. For example, sometimes Eliza visited her father in Utah. Although Anna and her children moved to Colonia Diaz, in the summer the children sometimes returned to St. Johns for schooling.

1888 – Journal Entry

The following was written by John Morgan on 7 December 1888: “Had dinner and spent the day with brother C. I. Robson [Charles Robson] and A. M. Tenney, spent the day very pleasantly.”

1890 – Ammon Marries a Third Time

During part of his time in Mexico, Ammon lived with the J. J. Adams family. They had a daughter, Hettie, who became Ammon's third wife in March of 1890. Ammon married Hettie Millicent Adams when Hettie was 18 and Ammon was 56. Nine children came from this union. Ten of Ammon's children were born in Mexico during a span from 1890 to 1910. (While in Mexico, Anna Sariah Eagar gave birth to Lurline Tenney on 19 May 1891. Lurline married Frederick Arthur

75 Smiley, 103.

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Illustration 56: Ammon M. Tenney

Whiting in 1911, and she lived until 1965. She is buried in St. Johns, Arizona. Her husband built a home for Anna Sariah (Ammon's wife) in St. Johns after the family left Mexico.)

1894 - The Zuni Indians

The following article was written by church historian Andrew Jensen and published in the Deseret News on April 7, 1894. It was titled, “Zuni Indian Village, Valenta County, New Mexico, March 9, 1894.”

Yesterday we left our friends at Ramah and traveled twenty two and a half miles on our return trip to Zuni, the famous Indian village which in past years has been visited by quite a number of our Indian missionaries and other elders among whom was Ammon M. Tenney who baptized quite a number of the villagers by means of the Spanish language which is spoken by quite a number of the Indians and which is also spoken fluently by Prest Gibbons.

We have conversed considerably with our dusky friends several of whom after being told that we were Mormons replied that they also were Mormons and while they went through the gestures which were intended to illustrate the ordinance of baptism and the laying on of hands they would exclaim, 'Yes, Ammon Tenney did so and so to us.' Their knowledge of the gospel and the nature of its ordinances beyond this seemed to be extremely limited.

Among the chiefs to whom we were introduced was the noted Reman Luna, the present governor of the village who treated us very kindly. He was among those baptized by Elder Tenney and because of his friendship to the Mormon missionaries, he was, through certain influences, brought to bear upon the majority of his people by Mormon haters, deposed from his governorship and stood thus for several years, but the reaction came and when he was chosen governor again, it was also owing to the fact that he had been a friend to the Mormons whose consistent course toward their Indian friends had finally gained their utmost confidence and today these Zuni villagers look upon our people as their best and truest friends.

Be it said to the honor of our Indian missionaries that they have made a good record among the natives while other white men who have associated themselves with the Indians have become notorious for their immoral conduct and betrayal of confidence our brethren have invariably acted like men and saints and the fruits of their example and precepts are now quite among the natives. . . .

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1901 – Ammon Called to Mexico City as the Mission President

Ammon served as President from 1901 until January 1903. In the beginning, Elder Tenney was the only missionary serving in Mexico City. To help support the work, two church leaders, Apostle John Henry Smith and Elder Anthony W. Ivins, joined Ammon on a visit to the Mexican president, Porfirio Diaz. The men asked for President Diaz's support for the new mission. The Mexican president's response was cordial and supportive.76 Remembered that twenty six years earlier in 1875, Anthony W. Ivins and Ammon were missionaries with Daniel Webster Jones and others on a mission to Mexico. After visiting with President Diaz, needing to return home, Elders Smith and Ivins left for Utah, and Ammon started his important work. He soon found,

. . . that many Protestant traditions had crept in among the Saints and that common-law marriages had become prevalent. The members had set up their own congregations and did not want to give up control to President Tenney, for fear that they would be left alone again in the future. In Cuautla, he found Simon Zuniga, who had been among that Mexican Saints who returned from the colonies in 1887. President Tenney was welcomed there. He retaught the Saints and brought them back into the fold. Six converts soon came into the Church there. At Ozumba he found Lino Zarate, a former missionary. Brother Zarate enthusiastically joined President Tenny in his efforts to locate the Saints. In Atlautla, they found Simon Paez and his family. This family had stayed in the Mormon colonies for five years before returning home. Brother Paez received them with kindness, still faithful to the gospel. In Chimal they found the Nicolas Rodriguez family. This family agreed to return to the Church only with the promise that the missionaries would not again desert them. In Tecalco they located Julian Rojas, a former missionary, who foryears had provided leadership in his branch. It took them a long time to convince Brother Rojas to allow his congregation to be brought back under priesthood leadership. On August 18, 1901, Brother Rojas and seventy-five followers were re baptized into the Church.77

76 F. LaMond Tullis, "Reopening the Mexican Mission in 1901" BYU Studies Vol. 22, No. 477 F. LaMond Tullis, 499.

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Illustration 57: President Ammon M. Tenney andhis wife, Sister Eliza A. Udall Tenney

The work was challenging, but President Tenney labored daily in an effort to bring the Mexican saints back into the church.

David Crockett, in his article “History of the Church in Mexico,” reported that,

Branches were organized in Tecalco and San Andres de la Cal, and priesthood conferred on worthy brethren. Local missionaries were called to labor. Of the nearly 300 people brought into the Church before the mission was closed in 1889, only 55 of these Saints were on the Church rolls as of August, 1902. But the Church in Mexico started to grow again. During President Tenney's fifteen-month presidency, 175 converts came into the Church.”78

After Ammon's mission to Mexico, he returned to the Colonies for a period of peace. More children were born

1907 - Journal Entry from the Colonies

A journal entry by Miles Romney Brown of Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, records the following:

The word Studebaker brings to mind a rather humorous remembrance to me. Ammon Tenney in Mexico, the fellow that I traded my big workhorse to for the little mare, had a brand new Studebaker wagon and drove two stallions hooked to the wagon. Well, I couldn't read very well. I think I was about 10 years old, and I thought it said on the side of the wagon, "Stud Breakers." Well, I thought brother Tenney had quite the outfit. I hope the above will not embarrass anyone.

After being at the ranch for about four months, I was to go home to Colonia Dublin with Jodymans. My father brought a large workhorse to me and said, "Miles, this is your horse in payment of old Bess the black mare and colt we left in Colonia Morelos." Now when my dad gave you something, it was yours, and you didn't have to consult anyone if you wanted to trade. Well I did that very thing, and soon after I arrived in Colonia Dublin I traded the old workhorse to one Brother Ammon Tenney for a little mare. I wanted my horse to have a family. Well, in due time that mare did have a colt, and when we left Colonia Dublin during the Mexican Revolution in 1912, I left my mare and colt behind again.79

1908 - References to Ammon's Wife, Eliza Udall

This next historical note relates to Ammon's wife. As stated earlier, his second wife, Eliza Ann Udall Tenney, was a sister of David King Udall, and a daughter of David Udall. Eliza's father wrote the following entry in 1908:

78 David R. Crockett, “History of the Church in Mexico,” http://www.crockettclan.org/wws/mexico.html

79 http://www.orsonprattbrown.com/martha-miles.html

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We raised a good crop of grain; no fruit as the frost took it nearly all. We, worked for our dead in the Manti Temple and we are very thankful to our Heavenly Father for that favor. My daughters, Eliza Ann Tenney and Mary Ann Stewart, helped me very much.

Eliza's brother, David King Udall, also writes about Ammon's wife with the following entry:

Soon after making the last entry in his journal, father complained of a pain in his stomach. My sister, Eliza Ann Tenney, was at that time living in the home, taking care of him and the nearly blind little Aunt Rebecca. After Eliza applied the simple home remedies, the doctor was called. It was thought that father would soon be better, but a few days later, on November 11, 1910, he passed from this earth as he had lived, in fearless simplicity. He was in his eighty-second year.80

1909 – The Rumble of Revolution

By 1909, rumblings of revolution sent quivers throughout the land. Eventually, Mexican political unrest, backed by guns and threats, forced the Saints out of the Colonies back into the United States. The Saints possessions left behind in Mexico were stolen by roving bandits. An episode describing these events is told by Winn Smiley. She writes:

When the revolution did begin, neither the Federalists nor the Revolutionists bothered the Mormon colonies except to buy or take their farm produce. Civilian rioters and looters let loose by the revolution, however, made the colonists' life in Mexico unbearable. 'My family has been driven by force from our homes and all our accumulations of a life-time [are gone],' Tenney wrote. The Mexicans 'began rioting and looting indiscriminately . . . we were compelled to either leave and flee to the mountains or shed the blood of our fellow men . . . . Nine of them came into my house and one about seventeen years old held me under a cocked pistol while the remainder looted my home. We the men of the town met at the tithing office with the object in view of retreating into the Sierra Madres where we were to join a complete exodus of all the colonies.'

After waiting four or five days in the mountains for other colonists, they began their march towards the United States crossing the international boundary at Dog Springs in July of 1912. Before reaching the line, the Mormons were frightened by the appearance of a suspicious-looking group. An uproar developed when a Mormon noticed one of the Mexicans riding his horse, and seized it. The Mormons wanted to leave the Mexican without transportation. 'Let the Black Devil go afoot,' they said. Tenney, however, argued that 'the Mormons should not treat the Mexicans like the Mexicans treated them.' He offered to give the Mexican his own horse if the Mormons left him afoot. They reconsidered and gave the horse back to the Mexican.81

80 David King Udall, Diary, page 286. http://www.library.arizona.edu/exhibits/davidkudall/mormon/appendix.html

81 Smiley, 104-105.

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http://www.library.arizona.edu/exhibits/davidkudall/mormon/appendix.html

After returning to the United States, Eliza lived with a married daughter in Thatcher, Arizona; Anna moved to Utah and then back to St. Johns where her son in law, Fred Whiting, built her a house; and Hettie and Ammon lived in El Paso and Mesa.

McClintock on the Mormon Colonies in Mexico

James McClintock writes,

The colonists took no part in the politics of the country. Only a few became Mexican citizens. Junius S. Romney stated that in each settlement pride was taken in maintaining the best ideals of American government. Occasionally there was irritation, mainly founded upon the difference between the American and Mexican judicial systems. According to Ammon M. Tenney, in all the years of Mormon occupation, not a single colonist was convicted of a crime of any sort whatever. In 1912 the colonists numbered 4225.

1925 – Ammon Dies

When we consider the life of Ammon Meshach Tenney, we may be impress-ed with the many challenging activities in which he was engaged. We may admire his resolute commitment to the Christian ideals he learned from his father, mother, and church leaders. And we may sense from his behavior that he was a relentless, brave warrior: always fighting for the underdog.

In his sunset years, Ammon traveled to Mexico on two occasions: first to meet with Poncho Villa, and second to meet with the Governor of Sonora. He wanted to obtain land for a gathering place for the Mexican saints in Chihuahua. In preparation for his trip, he obtained a letter of introduction and recommendation from Arizona Governor Thomas E. Campbell. In the letter, the Governor said about Ammon:

As early as 1858 he was among the Indians in the missionary capacity and in the following hear he was a member of the party of the first white men to cross the Rio Grande del Norte [Colorado River' at El Vado de los Padres since the Franciscans crossed crossed in 1776. . . .

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Illustration 58:Governor Thomas E. Campbell

served from 1919-1923

He was a guide for Major Powell, the great explorer of the Grand Canyon. . . . Especially there must be consideration for Mr. Tenney as a colonizer. He was active in the establishment of colonies in southern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwester New Mexico and in northern Mexico.82

Although Poncho Villa was respectful, he would not help, and no help was obtained in Sonora. Ammon died 28 Oct 1925 in Mesa, Arizona, and he is buried in Thatcher, Arizona. After his death, relating to the Mexican Mission, a happy event was described by Agustin Rojas Santos in 1991. This event would have pleased Ammon Tenney. Writing for the Ensign magazine, Agustin said,

In 1989, the 100th Stake in Mexico was created in Tecalco, Mexico. One of the members of this new stake was the oldest member of the Church in Mexico, 106-year-old, Fidecia Garcia de Rojas. She had joined the Church in 1901 and was baptized by Ammon Tenney, shortly after the Mexican Mission was reopened.83

Conclusion

This writer respects the simple yet elegant people who came to the West to find religious freedom and to find a place to create Zion. For them, Zion meant building communities where people practiced the ideals taught by Jesus Christ. They wanted communities where love passed from person to person and where doors could be unlocked at night because the people did not steal from one another.

For the Saints, Zion was also a place to learn history, languages, principles of science, issues of government, and the fine arts. The people wanted wholesome growth for their children. This dream has never died among the Mormons. For them, this dream is Christ's dream for all the people of the earth who are willing to follow Christ's example.

The pioneers' goals for settlement of the West were lofty, and James McClintock realized that as he wrote his book, Mormon Settlement in Arizona. Writing in 1921, Mr. McClintock will have the last words here:

Oases Have Grown in the Desert

The Mormons of Arizona today are not to be considered in the same manner as have been their forebears. The older generation came in pilgrimages, wholly within the faith, sent to break the wilderness for generations to come. These pioneers

82 Smiley, 105.83 Agustin Rojas Santos, "Fidencia Garcia de Rojas: Life of a Mexican Pioneer,” Ensign, February

1991.

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must be considered in connection with their faith, for through that faith and its supporting Church were they sent on their southward journeyings. Thus it happens that 'Mormon settlement' was something apart and distinctive in the general development of Arizona and of the other southwestern sections into which Mormon influences were taken. It has not been sought in this work even to infer that Mormons in anywise had loftier aspirations than were possessed by any other pioneer people of religious and law-abiding sort. However, there must be statement that the Mormons were alone in their idea of extension in concrete agricultural communities. Such communities were founded on well-developed ideals, that had nothing in common with the usual frontier spirit. They contained no drinking places or disorderly resorts and in them rarely were breaches of the peace. Without argument, this could have been accomplished by any other religious organization. Something of the sort has been done by other churches elsewhere in America. But in the Southwest such work of development on a basis of religion was done onlyby the Mormons.

There was need for the sustaining power of Celestial Grace upon the average desert homestead, where the fervent sun lighted an expanse of dry and unpromising land. The task of reclamation in the earlier days would have been beyond the ability and resources of any colonists not welded into some sort of mutual organization. This welding had been accomplished among the Mormons even before the wagon trains started southward. Thereafter all that was needed was industry, as directed by American intelligence.

Prosperity Has Succeeded Privation

Today the Mormon population of Arizona does not exceed 25,000, within a total population of over 300,000. The relative percentage of strength, however, is larger than the figures indicate, this due, somewhat, to the fact that the trend of Mormon progress still is by way of cultivation of the soil. Of a verity, a family head upon a farm, productive and independent, is of larger value to the community and of more importance therein than is the average city dweller.

The immigrant from Utah who came between 1876 and 1886 no longer has the old ox-bowed wagon. His travel nowadays is by automobile. His log or adobe hut has been replaced by a handsome modern home. His children have had education and have been reared in comfort that never knew lack of food. Most of the Mormon settlements no longer are exclusively Mormon. There has come a time when immigration, by rail, has surrounded and enveloped the foundations established by the pioneers.

To the newer generation this work is addressed especially, though its dedication, of right, is to the men and women who broke the trails and whose vision of the future has been proven true. Many of the pioneers remain and share with their children in the benefits of the civilization that here they helped to plant. The desert wilderness has been broken and in its stead oases are expanding, oases filled with a population proud of its Americanism, prosperous through varied industry and blessed withconsideration for the rights of the neighbor.

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Color-coded Text Connects Wives and Children

Blue – Anna Sariah EagarGreen – Eliza Ann Udall

Red – Hettie Millicent Adams

Toquerville, Utah1868 6 Dec Ammon Meshach Jr, Toquerville, Washington, Utah

1870 23 Mar Anna Sariah (Minnie), Toquerville, Washington, Utah

Kanab, Utah1871 25 Dec Nathan Cram III, Kanab, Kane, Utah

1873 22 Dec Levi Stewart, Kanab, Kane, Utah1874 14 Jun Olive Eliza, Kanab, Kane, Utah

1876 13 Jul Abbey Celestia, Kanab, Kane, Utah1876 10 Feb Phoebe Relief, Kanab, Kane, Utah

St. Johns, Arizona1879 28 Dec Lois Janette, Windmill Ranch, Apache, Arizona

1882 16 Oct Lula Maude, St. Johns, Apache, Arizona1884 23 Oct Rosalia, Saint Johns, Apache, Arizona

1887 14 Sept John Eagar died young, Saint Johns, Apache, Arizona

Colonia Diaz, Mexico1890 25 Dec Millicent /TENNEY/ Colonia Diaz, Chihuahua, Mexico

1891 19 May Lurline Colonia, Diaz, Chihuahua, Mexico1892 23 Aug Eugene Adams, Colonia Diaz, Chihuahua, Mexico1895 4 Apr Helaman Pratt, Colonia Diaz, Chihuahua, Mexico1897 25 Mar Paul Frost, Colonia Dublan, Chihuaua, Mexico

1899 10 Feb Anthony Ivins, Colonia Dublan, Chihuahua, Mexico1901 22 May Udall Adams, Colonia Dublan, Chihuahua, Mexico1903 4 Aug Ezra Strong, Colonia Dublan, Chihuahua, Mexico

1905 27 Aug Allen Dwight, Colonia Dublan, Chihuahua, Mexico1910 28 Sept Sadie, Colonia Dublan, Chihuahua, Mexico84

84 http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp

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Some Ammon M. Tenney Relatives

The girl on the man's shoulder, Emma Belle Tenney, is a younger version of the woman in the spotted dress. The man, Ammon Tenney, is named after his uncle, Ammon M. Tenney. The man and woman are twins. The “twins” picture was taken in Mesa, Arizona in July of 1931.

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Illustration 59: All shown here are Ammon's relatives.

Note the older woman on the left, a sister in law, Mary Edna Norfleet Tenney,

third wife of Samuel Benjamin Tenney.

The woman in the spotted dress on the right,Emma Belle Tenney Larsen,

Ammon's niece.Circa 1952

Illustration 60: Niece Emma Belle Tenney

andNephew Ammon Tenney

Twins

Relevant Gravestones

Ammon Meshach TenneyBuried in Thatcher, Arizona.

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Ann Eliza Udall, Ammon's second wifeEliza is buried in Thatcher, Arizona.

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Hettie Millicent Adams TenneyAmmon's Third Wife

Buried in Phoenix, Arizona

A Few More Photos

John W. Young and thesaints built a woolen millat Moencopi. They wantedto buy wool from the Navajos.

85

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Illustration 62: R. Allen Hackworth and Harley.Harley is a veteran of World War II.

Illustration 61: Harley's House, Moencopi, Arizona

Alphabetical Index40 Years Among the Indians.......41A. W. Ivins...............................50Abby Celestia............................13Agustin Rojas Santos.................82Albert Carrington.......................62Albuquerque, New Mexico...........60Allen Hackworth .......................10Amasa M. Lyman.......................14Ames Zebulon Stewart...............44Ammon M. Tenney.. . .31, 34, 62, 66Ammon Meshach Tenney.......64, 86Ammon Tenney....................10, 27Andrew Gibbons..................15, 27Andrew Jensen..........................77Andrew S. Gibbons...............19, 39Ann Eliza Udall..........................87Anna Sariah Eagar..........30, 72, 76Anthony W. Ivins.......................78Anti-Mormon sentiments............61Apache Chief............................73Apache county..........................73Apache County..........................58Apaches...................................47Arizona................................9, 11Asahel Henry Smith...................58Ashton Nebeker,........................31Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company.................................66Barney.....................................21Barth property..........................67Beatrice McFate.........................63Benjamin Knell....................15, 19Big Cottonwood.........................13Bishop Levi Stewart...................36Bishop Udall.............................72Book of Mormon........................41Brigham City............................66Brigham Young.........12, 15, 38, 52Brigham Young Jr.................61, 73Brother Tenney.........................62Buckskin Mountain....................31

Buckskin Mountains...................17C. T. Hayden.............................47Caborca...................................76California............................11, 13Camp Apache...........................47Captain Bennett, Indian agent.....32Cardon....................................52Catharine Cottam Romney..........74Cedar City..........................13, 21Central and Union Pacific............59Charles Riggs............................52Charles Robson.........................76Chief Barboncito........................34Church of Jesus Christ of LDS......12Colonia Dublin..........................79Colonia Juarez, Mexico...............79Colorado....................................9Colorado River..........17, 36, 38, 40Columbus R. Freeman................66Concho ...................................66Constitution..............................75Cottonwood logs.......................32Crossing of the Fathers..............17Daniel McArthur Company..........25Daniel Webster Jones...........41, 78Danites....................................26David Crockett..........................79David Kay Flake's master's thesis 55David King Udall..................35, 79David King Udall's autobiography.71David Udall...............................35David V. Bennett.......................42Deseret News......................50, 57Detroit Michigan House of Corrections...............................74Divine destiny of America...........75Dixie.......................................21Dudley Leavitt.....................10, 27Duncan's Retreat.......................30Durias Davis.............................16E. S. Stover..............................67

87

Edward Noble...........................57Elijah Potter.............................31Eliza Ann..................................35Eliza Ann Udall..........................35Eliza Ann Udall Tenney...............79Eliza King.................................35Emma Belle Tenney...................85Endowment House.....................30Enoch Dodge............................29Ensign magazine.......................82Erastus Snow............................57Ernest A. Tietjen.......................61F. LaMond Tullis.........................78Fidecia Garcia de Rojas..............82First bishop of Kanab,................30Flagstaff, Arizona......................63Florence, Nebraska..............12, 25Fort Defiance.......................31, 40Francis Lyman...........................11Francis Lyman ..........................57Francisco Capulla......................49Francisco Chico.........................48Frank Hamblin..........................39Frank Starr...............................36Frank, a Kibab Indian.................31Fred Whiting.............................81Frederick Arthur Whiting............76Fruitland, New Mexico................13G Bar or Sedro Ranch................54Garn Huntington.........................8General Crook...........................47George A. McCarter...................73George A. Smith..................28, 62George A. Smith Jr....................21George Albert Smith..................58George Alma............................12George Q. Cannon.....................62Gila.........................................47Gilbert D. Greer........................76Gladys Duke.............................63Google map..............................39Gooseberry Mesa........................8Grafton...........................8, 21, 26Gun battle................................67

Hamblin.............................34, 39Hans Gulbrandsen.....................52Harris Greer.............................67Hastele....................................36Hayden's Mill............................47Heleman Pratt...........................50Henry Barney...........................24Hettie Millicent Adams................76Hettie Millicent Adams Tenney.....88Holbrook..................................53Hopi........................................11Hopi Indians.............................21Hunt........................................73Hurricane, Utah..........................8Hyrum Smith............................12Hyrum Watkins.........................57Idaho........................................9Illinois.....................................11Iowa........................................11Ira Hatch.....10., 14, 27, 39, 42, 66Isaac Riddle........................10, 27Isaac Riddle's journal.................28Ivins.......................................44J. C. Naile................................58J. J. Adams family.....................76J. Z. Stewart.............................50Jacob Hamblin....10, 14, 21, 26, 30, 39Jacob Hamblin's case.................75Jacob's son...............................36James Andrus...........................30James Davis.............................15James H. McClintock..................11James Mangrum........................42James McFate......................21, 25James Richey............................58James Zebulon Stewart..............44Jesse N. Smith....................58, 73Jesus Christ..............................26Joe McFate...............................25John Eagar...............................75John H. Rollins..........................58John Henry Smith......................58John Hunt Udall........................58

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John L. Blythe...........................39John Lowell..............................13John Maughan..........................51John Morgan.............................76John R. Young...........................38John W. Brown..........................71John W. Young................52, 59pp.John W. Young's business...........63John Wesley Powell..............11, 31Joseph Angell...........................62Joseph City...............................53Joseph Fish....................55, 62, 72Joseph Smith Jr........................58Joseph Smith McFate.................25Joseph W. Smith's horses...........56Juan Largo...............................48Juan, a Papago Indian................49Kanab................................36, 39Kanab, Utah.............................30Las Vegas...........................14, 16Latt.........................................21LDS church...............................57LDS Church..............................41Lee's Ferry..........................31, 42Levi Stewart.............................30Lino Zarate, a former missionary. 78Little Colorado..........................43Little Colorado .........................58Little Colorado River..................45Little Colorado Valley.................59Loaded my repeater...................33Long Valley..............................39Lorenzo Hatch.....................51, 55Lorenzo Hubbell........................33Lorenzo Snow...........................62Lucy Olive................................25Lurline Tenney..........................76Major Powell.............................31Manti Temple............................80Maricopas................................47Marvelous Flood..........................8Mary Ann Stewart......................80Mary Edna Norfleet Tenney.........85Mawaby...................................39

McCarty..............................36, 39McClintock................................66McMaster.................................43McNulty...................................46Meilton Trejo.............................41Mexican Mission........................61Mexico...............................11, 41Michael James Riordan...............63Miles Romney Brown..................79Mississippi River........................12Missouri...................................41Missouri ..................................73Moencopi Today........................88Mogollon Mountains...................47Montana....................................9Moqui...........................19, 26, 45Moqui Indians...........................15Moqui towns.............................31Moqui villages...........................43Moqui Villages...........................28Moquis.....................................28Morgan's station........................47Mormon colonies.......................80Mormon Colonies at Colonia Diaz. 76Mormon Settlements in Arizona...11Mormon vote............................61Mosiah Hancock........................22Mount Pisgah, Union, Iowa.........12Mountain Meadow.....................26Mt. Carmel...............................39Museum of Northern Arizona.......32Nancy Ann...............................13Naraguts..................................15Nat Greer.................................67Nathan Cram Tenney..............8, 14Nathan Terry............................31Nathan's 65th birthday...............68Nauvoo....................................12Navajo agency..........................40Navajo spring...........................29Navajos........................18, 29, 36Nebraska.................................11Nevada......................................9Nevada Muddy Valley.................14

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New Grafton.............................23New Mexico..........................9, 11New York City...........................62Nicolas Rodriguez......................78Ohn A. West.............................56Olive Eliza...........................13, 21Olive Strong.........................8, 11Olive Strong Tenney..................23Oraibi.................................32, 39Southern Utah..........................19P. N. Skousen...........................75Pearson H. Corbett....................75Peokon, a war chief...................39Peter J. Christofferson ...............74Petrified Forest National Park......52Phoebe Relief............................13Phoenix...................................46Pimas......................................47Pipe Spring.........................16, 29Polygamy............................74, 76Porfirio Diaz..............................78Pratt........................................44Prescott, Arizona.......................46Prest Gibbons...........................77Provo......................................41Pueblos....................................49Quorum of the Twelve................59R. N. Allred..............................57Ra Hatch..................................10Rachel.....................................29Ramah.....................................77Rand, Lee County, Iowa..............11Reman Luna.............................77Republic of Mexico.....................75Revolution................................80Revolutionary War.....................75Richard Riordan........................63Rio Grande...............................46Riordan Mansion.......................63Robert H. Smith........................50Rockville, Utah..........................25Romney...................................73Round Valley............................74Roving bandits..........................80

Roy Lisk McFate........................63Sacaton...................................47Salt Lake City......................13, 25Salt River Valley..................43, 45Samuel Benjamin Tenney...........13Samuel Knight..........................15San Bernardino.........................13San Carlos ..............................47Santa Clara..............................16Savoia Valley Navajo Mission.......55Sevier River..............................36Shirts......................................21Simon Paez..............................78Simon Zuniga...........................78Sleep under one blanket.............34Snowflake................................56Sol. Barth................................57Solomon Barth, a Jewish trader...55Spanish interpreter....................40Spanish students.......................13St. George...............................40St. George Tabernacle................75St. Johns.................................54St. Johns Stake Academy...........71St. Johns Stake history..............75Stolen stock.............................34Studebaker..............................79Sunset.....................................66Teacher's Institute in Phoenix in 1906.......................................71Tecalco and San Andres de la Cal.79Tecalco, Mexico.........................82Tempe.....................................47Tenney's Camp.........................52Terrible war whoop....................33Texas......................................11Thales Haskell................10, 14, 27Thatcher, Arizona......................13Thomas Chamberlain.................39Thomas L. Greer.......................60Thomas L. Kane........................14Thomas Leavitt....................15, 19Thomas Smith..........................42Tietjen.....................................55

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Tobacco pipe.............................16Toquerville...............................30Toquerville, Utah.......................25Tuscon Citizen...........................50Twin Buttes..............................48Two sacks of tobacco.................33Utah....................................9, 11Utes........................................36Violin.......................................25Virgin River..............................30W. C. Staines............................43Welsh......................................16Wharton..................................46Whitmore.................................44Wild time in St. Johns................67Wiley C. Jones..........................42Wiley H. Jone;..........................50Wilford Woodruff.......................52Willard Richards........................12William (Gunlock) Hamblin.. .10, 19,

27William B. Smith.......................58William Hamblin........................16William James...........................57William Solomon.......................42Winchester Miller.......................47Winn Smiley.............................80Winn Smiley. She.....................52Winter Quarters........................12Wm. J. F. McAllister...................51Woodruff..................................52Wyoming...................................9Zion National Park.....................21Zuni........................................66Zuni Village, Valenta County, N.M 77Zuni mission.............................55Zuni village..............................50Zunis.......................................49 .............................21, 38, 79, 88

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