William Arthur Cox
Back Across the Plains
On 26 Apr 1861, William Arthur received a call from his bishop to go back to Florence, Nebraska, as a church teamster to help immigrants. Each teamster had a wagon & four yoke of oxen. Father Cox furnished two yoke of oxen for the wagon William Arthur had charge of.
After arriving at Florence, William Arthur decided to call on his uncle, Amos Cox. His only way to get there was to walk. At sunrise on 2 Jul 1861, he "hit the trail". The distance was sixty miles. He arrived at 9 o'clock that evening at his uncle's home. His uncle was greatly surprised at the distance he had covered in that length of time.
Upon his return to Florence, the wagon train loaded up & started for Utah. After they had traveled about two hundred miles, they camped one night on Grand Island on the Platte River. The island was thickly covered with grass & willows. They had to drive the cattle across a branch of the river to the island to feed for the night. After returning to camp, William Arthur said to Captain Murdock, "That old red ox will turn up missing in the morning, I'm afraid." "What makes you think so, William?", questioned the Captain. "Well, he has been so trashy today," was the reply. "Oh, I imagine we'll find him all right", was the captain's reply. When morning came, however, & the ox was not in the herd, the captain called William Arthur aside. "Well, William", he said, "we can't stop the whole train to hunt for that ox, but we'll drive your team & let you stay behind to drive him in." William answered, "That is the night herder's job." But the captain said, "If I leave any of them & they don't find him in an hour or two, they will leave the ox & follow the train." "I don't like the job, captain", responded William Arthur, "but if it's to be done, I'll do it."
It was not a pleasant prospect for William Arthur. The country was filled with Indians. To be caught by them alone on the prairie was almost certain death. But he saddled a horse, gathered up a lunch, & struck out toward the island, while the ox train wound its way out of sight among the hills toward the west. All morning he searched for the ox. Noon came & went without success. He dismounted & ate his lunch while his horse grazed nearby. Then he began to hunt again, riding round & round the big island in ever narrowing circles. Just about sundown, as he sat planning & gazing about, he saw the old ox rise up out of its hiding place in the tall grass just a few hundred yards away. Riding toward the truant, William Arthur started the lazy old animal across the river. He found the trail of the train & followed it toward the setting sun. All night long he trudged his lonely way. The wolves occasionally broke the stillness of the long night with their howling. Many of them were the large grey wolves, but luckily, they did not carry out their threats, nor did the Indians molest him. "I knew you'd bring him back, or stay until you found him," said Captain Murdock.
They had fine weather all the way. When they arrived at Lehi, Captain Murdock presented William Arthur with a large, beautiful buffalo robe, on the inside of which was painted all kinds of animals & Indians in brilliant colors. The painting was done by Indians. The robe was worth twenty dollars in those days. Thus Captain Murdock showed his appreciation for the extra service that William Arthur had done for the company.
He arrived home in Manti in September, & in April 1863 his father was called to fill a mission to England, leaving the responsibility of caring for the family upon William Arthur & his brother Fred, who was now a married man. On 10 Aug 1863 another baby girl, named Luella Adelia, was born to Frederick Walter & Emeline. She died 24 June 1865. Father Cox never saw this child.
Indian Troubles
On 10 Apr 1865, William Arthur, with a company of twelve other men, was out on the range after cattle. When they were near Mayfield, they were fired on by Indians. One of his comrades, Peter Ludvigson, was shot from his horse. At first the men thought that the Indians were "fooling", but when they saw their companion's body fall to the ground, they decided it was time to make their escape. They returned to Manti, gave the alarm, & a party left at once to obtain the body of the dead man. The Indians had, by this time, gathered all of the cattle between Six Mile & Salina. They killed two more men & drove all of the stock up Salina Canyon.
Colonel Allred pursued the Indians with eighty four men of the militia. William Arthur, who was in the company, went over the mountains down into the Three Ravines, or defiles. The overhanging wall was covered with brush & boulders, just the place for an ambush. While they were passing through the defile, there came a shower of bullets crashing down upon them. Not an Indian was to be seen, only the smoke from their guns told where they were hiding. The cliff was way above them. Only quick decision could save the company. With a terrible sense of defeat, they felt forced to retreat from the constant whack of the enemy's flying bullets. They backed up the mountain with their faces toward the foe, but were forced to leave two of their companions, William Kearns of Gunnison & James Sorenson of Ephraim, dead in the canyon. On reaching the top of the mountain, the officers of the Manti troop ordered a halt to cover the retreat of the rest of the company. The men waited, hoping to get a shot at the Indians, but they kept out of sight & kept firing.
On reaching the top, William Arthur jumped from his horse, threw the reins over a branch, & was so intent on getting a shot at the enemy, that when ordered to march, he found that his mare had broken away & gone. He had scarcely time to realize his great danger in being left behind the company on foot & alone, when his mare came running back to him. The horse was terribly frightened & wanted to be near her master. With the saddle turned, the blanket gone, reins flying, her sides heaving & panting, jumping over high brush & boulders, she came straight towards William Arthur. Starting towards the horse & calling for her to stop, he caught his foot in a brush & fell, but in falling, his arm went through the reins & she stopped beside him. Instead of leading her away, he stood right in the path of the flying bullets, which were cutting the limbs & leaves off the trees over & around his head, re-saddled his mare, then caught up with his companions. William states that he knows that God guided that horse back to him, for she had made a complete circuit of the knoll instead of following the other horses on the trail, which saved his life.
On 1 June 1865, William Arthur was one of a company of one hundred men which started out to follow a band of Indians to Grass Valley. They took a cut-off at Glen Cove, & by riding all night, arrived at Grass Valley before the Indians. While in camp preparing their breakfast, the alarm was given that the Indians were coming. They quickly prepared themselves for a fight. William Arthur, with three other men, was placed as a picket guard on a hill. The other men fired on the enemy, killing about eight or nine of them. One of the white men was wounded slightly. They then followed the Indians up Grass Valley, where they turned east toward Green River.
On Green River their provisions gave out, leaving them in the mountains seventy five miles from food & water among the Indians on the darkest night you ever saw. They were all extremely thirsty & hungry. William Arthur suggested that they halt for the night, unsaddle their horses & use their saddles as pillows until morning. Some objected to this, saying that it was too dangerous, as the Indians were in hiding close by & waiting to come upon them. The company was so weary, however, that it was decided to rest there for the night.
The company traveled at night, scattered for ten miles along the rocky trail. They rested in the day time. This was the cause of an amusing incident. While they were traveling at night, one of the captains thought he sighted an Indian camp from a hill & gave the alarm. At the command to halt, every man was off his horse immediately. The company was divided into three squads & ordered to stand by their horses ready to charge on the supposed camp of Indians at the first streak of daylight. When they made the charge, they found no Indians, not even a track. The alarm had been caused by the reflection of the stars on the surface of the river, thus the laugh was on the Captain. They saved their bullets & perhaps their scalps. By this time they had been without food for three days & nights.
During this time, William Arthur had a few crumbs of bread tied up in a handkerchief which he had saved from his last ration. A large man rode up beside him & said, "There is no use trying, I cannot ride another step without food. I am starving to death." Although William Arthur had been without food for the same length of time as his companion, he remembered the crumbs he had saved. He gave them to his comrade, reserving nothing for himself.
When they arrived at Rock Canyon they met a man who had been sent to them with food. William Arthur was so hungry that he dared not eat more than a biscuit & a small piece of cheese. They traveled up the mountainside on their way home all night. The next day William Arthur was very ill, but they dared not stop, so traveled on, where they met their loved ones anxiously waiting for them. They had been absent thirty one days & had traveled three hundred miles on horseback.
There were nine of the town boys who slept in the Cox barn winter & summer, ready to protect the town & the people. They always slept with their sixshooters buckled on them, so if a call from the man on guard was given, they would waste no time in getting to the trouble. There never was a braver or more willing crowd of boys. Many a time they went to the bottoms, below where the stock were kept on pasture, to help rescue some man's ox or cow that had waded into a spring & could not get out. They would use their ropes & draw the animal out, thus doing a good turn for their neighbors, as well as guarding the town.
William Arthur says he slept in the old barn for seven years. The boys would practice their aim by shooting at knots in the posts of the barn.
In October 1865 Father Cox returned home from his mission.
On 14 Apr 1866, nine Indian prisoners were brought to Manti & placed in the jail. There was a guard kept over them night & day. The jail was in the top story of a building, & the entrance was by way of a stairway built on the outside. The guard usually stood at the bottom of the stairs. On one occasion, while a crowd of men were in front of the building talking, the guard left his post & went around in front. There was a man coming down the street, & he shouted, "There go your Indians." When the crowd rushed around the building, they were just in time to see the last of the Indians disappear through the block running to the southeast. The chase was on. It was about nine o' clock in the evening. The alarm was given. All women & children were ordered into their homes. Some of them hid in their cellars while the men gave chase after the Indians. William Arthur had left his six-shooter at home that night, the first time he had left it off (He had worn it buckled around his waist night & day for the past year). He ran over to the big house for his gun & the other men started at once in pursuit of the Indians. After he got his pistol, he started east up the street. He came opposite a pile of posts & thought there might be an Indian in them. He put his hand on the pile & kicked under the heap. An Indian gave a grunt & started for him. Quick as a flash William Arthur fired at him. It was a very dark night, so he could not take good aim, but the bullet hit the Indian in the stomach. Two other Indians were also killed in town that night. The others escaped, but were followed & killed later.
During these times the settlers had not time to idle away. Their land had to be plowed with hand plows drawn by oxen & cows. They cut their grain with a hand cradle swung by a man. William Arthur said that the average man could cut two acres of grain a day, but that he had raked & bound three acres a day. They used a hand rake with wooden teeth, & they would take a handful of grain, twist it into a string, then bind it around the bundle of grain. Thus they had to work in those days, & if a few heads of the precious grain should fall by the way, the girls of the family would follow & pick it up. This was called "gleaning". The men would return home after such a day of toil, then would have to take their share of guarding the town from Indians at night.