Letter to J. Little-- When Preston Nibley wrote his book, Brigham Young, the Man and His Work in 1936 he seems to have had access to the letter files of President Brigham Young. Unfortunately, however, he repeatedly extracted a paragraph here and there from these original documents in place of reproducing the entire documents. Such is the case with this letter to Jesse C. Little in Boston. He has quoted enough of the letter to give the reader a hint of its contents. This letter and the ones to the Brethren at Winter Quarters dated May 4, 1847; the letter to the Saints at Pueblo, Colorado, dated June 2, 1847; the letter to Charles C. Rich dated August 2, 1847; and the letter to the members of the Mormon Battalion in California dated August 8, 1847, are all used in this compilation in extracted form from Nibley in the hopes that the complete copies will be later discovered and become available. For the period from May to December, 1847, the Quorum of the Twelve with Brigham Young as President also wrote the following communications for which no available copies have been located: July 8, 1847 to Amass Lyman; September 8, 1847, to the Saints in Great Salt Lake; November 5, 1847, to the Church Trustees in Nauvoo; December 6, 1847, "To whom it may Concern;" December 9, 1847, "To whom it may Concern."
Under date of February 26th, Brigham Young wrote to Elder Jesse C. Little in Boston:
"I expect to start for the mountains before you arrive, as it is necessary for a pioneer company to be on the way as early as possible to insure crops ahead, and I know of no better way than for me to go with the company, and if the brethren love me as I do them, they will not be long behind. I feel like a father with a great family of children around me, in a winter storm, and I am looking with calmness, confidence and patience, for the clouds to break and the sun to shine, so that I can run out and plant and sow and gather in the corn and wheat and say, Children, come home, winter is approaching again and I have homes and wood and flour and meal and meat and potatoes and squashes and onions and cabbages and all things in abundance, and I am ready to kill the fatted calf and make a joyful feast to all who will come and partake." . . .
[Closing the letter to Elder Little, and referring to the situation of the Saints at Winter Quarters, he continued:]
". . . We have done all we could here and are satisfied it will be all right in the end, for we are sure our Father will do all that is necessary to be done, when the strength of his children fails."
[This letter, written simply and frankly as it is, reveals, as well as any document I have found, the great, true heart of the man. Brigham now felt his leadership, wholly and completely, and the Saints, who in their trials and troubles, were driven almost to desperation, had found in him an early protector, and a father. "Children, come home, winter is approaching. I will kill the fatted calf and make a feast for you." No wonder the Saints came to lean upon him and worship at his word.-Preston Nibley] {1847-February 26-BY-Nibley, pp. 87-88}
[source: Clark, James R., Messages of the First Presidency (6 volumes)]
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