Part Eight

"Having been honored by a visit from Brigham's spy, and Brigham's military, and having paid the taxes unjustly imposed upon us, we hoped we should now be suffered to depart the valley without further molestation; but we soon found that to the victims of Mormon hate, hope had lost its meaning, or at least it must always be followed by that little word "but." A storm had passed, but the sky was not serene. From the dark, portentous clouds the forked lightning still continued to stream, while the incessant roll of distant thunder warned us that another storm, perhaps more fearful than the first, was yet to burst upon our defenceless heads."
"The company were in high spirits. We had scaled the mountain walls of our prison. Before us, to the north-west, lay the beautiful valley of Snake river, stretching out as far as the eye could reach. At our feet we beheld the pure waters of the Columbia. All drank of it and pronounced it the best they had ever tasted! We were free, and we resolved to stop and hold a jubilee! We had prepared a banner at Willow creek-our nation's emblem, the glorious stars and stripes. The only motto it contained was the word LIBERTY on one side, and OREGON on the other." (A Winter with the Mormons, David L. Bigler, The Tanner Trust Fund, pgs. 118-126)