Inquiring for the residence of the principal chief, the missionaries were introduced to an aged and venerable looking man, who had long stood at the head of the Delawares, and had been looked up to as the great grandfather, or sachem, of ten nations or tribes. His lodge was a two-roomed cabin, and he was seated on a sofa of furs, skins and blankets, before a large fire in the center of the room. His wives were neatly dressed in calicoes and skins, and wore many silver ornaments. As the brethren entered the cabin, the chief took them by the hand with a hearty welcome, and motioned them to be seated on some blankets or robes. At his bidding, his wives set before the brethren a tin pan full of beans. and corn boiled together; very good eating, although the three brethren had to use alternately the same wooden spoon.

The missionary brethren, through an interpreter, made known their errand, told of the Book of Mormon, and asked the chief to call the council of his nation together and give the missionaries a full hearing. He promised to consider till next day, meantime recommending them to the care of Mr. Pool, their government blacksmith, who entertained them kindly and comfortably.

Next morning the missionaries again called on Mr. Anderson, the old chief, and spoke further of the book. He did not want to call his council, made excuses, and then refused, as he had ever been opposed to the presence of missionaries among his tribe. But the conversation continued, and finally the chief began to understand the nature of the book. Then his mind changed, he became suddenly interested, sent a messenger, and in about an hour some forty men assembled in his lodge, shook hands with the missionaries, and sat down in grave and dignified silence. The chief then requested the missionaries to proceed, and Elder Cowdery addressed the council as follows:

"Aged Chief and Venerable Council of the Delaware Nation: we are glad of this opportunity to address you as our red brethren and friends. We have traveled a long distance from towards the rising sun to bring you glad news; we have traveled the wilderness, crossed the deep and wide rivers, and waded in the deep snows, and in the face of the storms of winter, to communicate to you great knowledge which has lately come to our ears and hearts, and which will do the red man good as well as the pale face.

"Once the red men were many; they occupied the country from sea to sea-from the rising to the setting sun; the whole land was theirs; the Great Spirit gave it to them, and no pale faces dwelt among them. But now they are few in numbers, their possessions are small, and the pale faces are many.

"Thousands of moons ago, when the red men's forefathers dwelt in peace and possessed this whole land, the great Spirit talked with them, and revealed his law and his will, and much knowledge to their wise men and prophets. This they wrote in a book, together with their history and the things which should befall their children in the latter days.

"This book was written on plates of gold, and handed down from father to son for many ages and generations.

"It was then that the people prospered, and were strong and mighty; they cultivated the earth, built buildings and cities, and abounded in all good things, as the pale faces now do.

"But they became wicked, they killed one another and shed much blood; they killed their prophets and wise men, and sought to destroy the book. The Great Spirit became angry, and would speak to them no more; they had no more good and wise dreams, no more visions, no more angels sent among them by the Great Spirit, and the Lord commanded Mormon and Moroni, their last wise men and prophets, to hide the book in the earth that it might be preserved in safety and be found and made known in the latter day to the pale faces who should possess the land, that they might again make it known to the red men, in order to restore them to the knowledge of the will of the Great Spirit and to his favor. And if the red men would then receive this book and learn the things written in it, and do according thereunto, they should be restored to all their rights and privileges, should cease to fight and kill one another; should become one people; cultivate the earth in peace, in common with the pale faces, who were willing to believe and obey the same book, and be good men and live in peace.

"Then should the red men become great, and have plenty to eat and good clothes to wear, and should be in favor with the Great Spirit and be his children, while he would be their Great Father, and talk with them, and raise up prophets and wise and good men among them again, who should teach them many things.

"This book which contained these things was hid in the earth by Moroni in a hill called by him Cumorah, which hill is now in the State of New York, near the village of Palmyra, in Ontario County.

"In that neighborhood there lived a young man named Joseph Smith, who prayed to the Great Spirit much, in order that he might know the truth; and the great Spirit sent an angel to him and told him where this book was hid by Moroni, and commanded him to go and get it. He accordingly went to the place and dug in the earth and found the book written on golden plates.

"But it was written in the language of the forefathers of the red man; therefore this young man, being a pale face, could not understand it, but the angel told him and showed him, and gave him knowledge of the language, and how to interpret the book. So he interpreted it into the language of the pale faces, and wrote it on paper, and caused it to be printed, and published thousands of copies of it among them; and then sent us to the red men to bring some copies of it to them, and to tell them this news. So we have now come from him and here is a copy of the book, which we now present to our red friend, the chief of the Delawares, and which we hope he will cause to be read and known among his tribe; it will do them good."

The chief was then presented with the Book of Mormon. The council conversed together in their own tongue, and then the chief replied to the missionaries as follows:

"We feel truly thankful to our white friends who have come so far and been at such pains to tell us good news and especially this new news concerning the book of our forefathers; it makes us glad in here [placing his hand on his heart].

"It is now winter, we are settlers in this place, the snow is deep, our cattle and horses are dying, our wigwams are poor, we have much to do in the spring-to build houses, and fence, and make farms. But we will build a council house and meet together, and you shall read to us and teach us more concerning the book of our fathers, and the will of the Great Spirit."

The missionary brethren lodged again at Mr. Pool's, told him of the book, and he became a believer in and advocate of it.

For several days they instructed the old chief and many of his

tribe, who became increasingly interested from day to day, until nearly the whole tribe felt a spirit of inquiry and excitement on the subject. As several of them could read, they were presented with copies of the book, with the explanation that it was the book of their forefathers. Some rejoiced exceedingly and told the news to others in their own language.

The excitement spread to the frontier settlements in Missouri, stirring up the jealousy and envy of the Indian agents and sectarian missionaries to such a pitch that the Elders were ordered out of the Indian country on the wolf and lamb pretense that they were disturbers of the peace, and they were threatened with the military in case of non-compliance.

Being thus arbitrarily compelled, the Elders left the Indian country and commenced laboring in Jackson County among the white people, by whom they were well received, many listening to them, and some were baptized and added to the Church. Elder Pratt says:

"Thus ended our first Indian mission, in which we had preached the Gospel in its fullness and distributed the record of their forefathers among three tribes, viz., the Catteraugus Indians near Buffalo, N. Y., the Wyandots of Ohio, and the Delawares west of Missouri. We trust that at some future day when the servants of God go forth in power to the remnant of Joseph, some precious seed will be found growing in their hearts, which was sown by us in that early day."

By the 14th of February, 1831, the cold, north wind was followed by a milder breeze from the south, the deep snows settled down, and spring appeared to be returning. Elders Cowdery, Whitmer, Pratt and Peterson, also F. G. Williams, who had accompanied them from Kirtland, assembled in council at Independence, Jackson Couny, Mo., and concluded that one of them should return to the Church in Ohio and perhaps to head-quarters in New York, to report to the Presidency of the Church. Elder Pratt was selected for that purpose. He accordingly took leave of them and other friends thereabout and started on foot for St. Louis, about three hundred miles distant, arriving there in nine days.

By this time the snow had melted, the rivers were breaking up, and the country was covered with mud and water.

After

spending a few days with a friend, in the country near St. Louis, where he had stayed on his way out, Elder Pratt took steamer in St. Louis for Cincinnati, landing there in a week. Thence he traveled on foot to Strongville, Ohio, forty miles from Kirtland, making the journey from Cincinnati, about two hundred and fifty miles, over very bad, muddy roads, which caused Elder Pratt to be much fatigued and sick.

Hearing that some brethren lived in Strongville, Elder Pratt sought to find them and try their hospitality to a sick and weary stranger. He went to the house of an old gentleman named Coltrin about sundown and asked if they could entertain a weary stranger who had no money. The old gentleman looked at the tired and "weather-beaten traveler, soiled with the toil of a long journey, besmeared with mud, eyes inflamed with pain and a visage lengthened by sickness and extreme fatigue." After a moment's hesitation, he bade Elder Pratt welcome and invited him into the house, where several ladies were at tea, who received him with a smile of welcome and insisted on his sitting down to tea with them. Then ensued a conversation something like the following:

"Stranger, where are you from? You certainly look weary; you must have traveled a long distance!"

"Yes; I am from beyond the frontiers of Missouri; a distance of twelve hundred miles."

"Ah, indeed! Did you hear anything of the four great prophets out that way?"

"Prophets! What prophets?"

"Why, four men-strange men-who came through this country and preached, and baptized hundreds of people; and, after ordaining Elders and organizing churches, they continued on westward, as we suppose, to the frontiers on a mission to the Indians; and we have never heard from them since. But the great work commenced by them still rolls on. It commenced last fall in Kirtland and has spread for a hundred miles around; thousands have embraced it, and among others, ourselves and many in this neighborhood."

"But what did they preach? And why do you call them prophets?"

"Why they opened the Scriptures in a wonderful manner;