Chapter II

JOURNEY TO LANAI—MEET MR. GIBSON—REVERENCE OF NATIVES FOR HIM—HIS SPEECH AND ASSUMPTION—ELDER JOSEPH F. SMITH'S REPLY—ELDER SNOW'S PROPHECY—MR. GIBSON CUT OFF THE CHURCH—ELDER SNOW'S PROPHECY FULFILLED—ADVISED TO SELECT A NEW GATHERING PLACE—A VISION—SUITABLE PLACE POINTED OUT.

ON the 2nd of April, Brother Snow had so far recovered his strength, that it was thought best to pursue our journey. We hired some natives to take us in an open boat across the channel, sixteen miles, to Lanai. We arrived at the landing place, three miles from the village, just at dark. We sent a messenger to Mr. Gibson, with the request that he would send down some saddle horses for us to ride up in the morning.

Early the following morning, April 3rd, the horses were ready for us. An hour's ride over a rough, rocky road brought us to the settlement. Our reception by Mr. Gibson, and most of the native Saints, was cool and very formal. Many improvements had been made since our last visit, that were praiseworthy, and reflected great credit on Mr. Gibson.

After breakfast, Apostles Benson and Snow engaged in conversation with Mr. Gibson on the affairs of the mission.

That day and the following, were principally spent in laboring with Mr. Gibson and the native Elders, to get them, if possible, to see the condition they were in. During this time, Brothers Joseph F. Smith, Alma L. Smith and myself, took a ride around the valley accompanied by Mr. Gibson's daughter, as our guide. About one-half of a mile from Mr. Gibson's residence, was a large rock, the top several feet above the ground. Mr. Gibson had a chamber cut into this rock, in which he had deposited a Book of Mormon, and other things, and called it the corner stone of a great temple, which would be erected there. A frame work of poles had been constructed, in a circular form around this rock, and this was covered with brush.

Mr. Gibson, by appealing to the pagan superstitions of the natives, made them believe that this spot was sacred, and if any person touched it, he would be struck dead.

So much faith had the daughter of Mr. Gibson in the teachings of her father, that she related, apparently in good faith, the circumstance of a hen flying upon the boothe, and immediately falling down dead.

Notwithstanding the protest of Miss Gibson, that it was very dangerous to do so, we went inside of the brush structure, and examined the rock and came out unharmed.

We were further informed that Mr. Gibson had succeeded in surrounding his own person and residence with such a halo of sacredness in the minds of the natives, that they always entered his house on their hands and knees.

This was repeated on other occasions. It was the old customary way, in which the natives had been in the habit of paying respect to their kings, and the custom had been revived by Mr. Gibson, in order to increase his personal prestige.

We had previously learned that the Saints would assemble in conference on the 6th of April. At ten o'clock, a. m., they had assembled in the meeting house. We all started to go in, when Mr. Gibson made some excuse for returning to his house. We went and took our seats on the stand. The house was well filled. In a few minutes Mr. Gibson made his appearance. As soon as he entered the door, the entire congregation instantly arose to their feet, and remained standing until he was seated on the stand. The execution of this act of reverence evinced long and careful training.

Mr. Gibson had, doubtless, delayed his entrance, to make a fitting opportunity for this exhibition. He entirely ignored the presence of the Apostles, and, after the people were seated, arose and gave out the opening hymn. This act gave evidence, at once, that he had no proper idea of the organization and authority of the Priesthood. Seeing this, President Benson called on me to pray.

Without giving any time for consultation, as soon as the second hymn was sung, Mr. Gibson arose to his feet and commenced to address the congregation, in substance as follows: "My dear red-skinned brethren, sisters and friends, I presume you are all wondering, and anxious to know why these strangers have come so suddenly among us, without giving us any notice of their coming. I will assure you of one thing, my red-skinned friends, when I find out, I will be sure to let you know, for I am your father, and will protect you in your rights.

"These strangers may say they are your friends, but let me remind you how, when they lived here, years ago, they lived upon your very scanty substance. Did they make any such improvements as you see I have made? Did I not come here and find you without a father, poor, and discouraged? Did I not gather you together here, and make all these improvements that you to-day enjoy?

"Now, you, my red-skinned friends, must decide who your friend and father is; whether it is these strangers, or I, who have done so much for you."

When he took his seat, President Benson requested Brother Joseph F. Smith to talk, rather intimating that it was desirable to speak on general principles, and that he need not feel bound to notice all that Mr. Gibson had said.

It seemed impossible for any man to speak with greater power and demonstration of the Spirit. He referred the Saints to the labors of Brother George Q. Cannon, and the first Elders who brought them the gospel.

He reminded them of facts with which the older Saints were well acquainted—the great disadvantage the Elders labored under, and the privations they suffered in first preaching the gospel on the islands. How they slept in their then miserable huts, and lived as they lived; how they traveled on foot, in storms, and in bad weather, from village to village, and from house to house, exposing health and life; how they went destitute of clothing, and what they had been in the habit of considering the necessaries of life, to bring them the blessings of the gospel, without money and without price.

He asked by what right Mr. Gibson called himself the father of the people, and the Elders who faithfully labored to establish them in the gospel strangers.

The spirit and power that accompanied Brother Smith's remarks astonished the Saints and opened their eyes. They began to see how they had been imposed upon. Every word he spoke found a response in their hearts, as was plainly manifest by their eager looks and animated countenances.

There was another meeting in the afternoon, in which Apostles Benson and Snow addressed the Saints. Their remarks were interpreted by Elder Joseph F. Smith.

On the 7th, there was a meeting in the forenoon. A Priesthood meeting was appointed for the evening, and the conference adjourned sine die.

The meeting of the Priesthood in the evening was well attended, as it was understood that Mr. Gibson's course would be investigated. The complaints that were made by the native Elders, in the communication that led to our present mission, were read, and Mr. Gibson was called on to make answer to the charges.

In addition to nearly a repetition of his harangue at the meeting on the day previous, his reply consisted of a bombastic display of some letters of appointment, and recommendations from President Young, to which he attached large seals, bedecked with a variety of colored ribbons, to give them an air of importance, and official significance, in the eyes of the unsophisticated natives.

These papers he held up before the people, and, pointing to them said, with great emphasis, "Here is my authority, which I received direct from President Brigham Young. I don't hold myself accountable to these men!" meaning the Apostles and those who came with them.

Had there been no other proof of the wrong course of Mr. Gibson, that remark was sufficient to satisfy the brethren what their plain duty was, and they acted promptly in the matter.

Apostle E. T. Benson followed Mr. Gibson. He reviewed Mr. Gibson's past course, and showed that, in making merchandise of the offices of the Priesthood, introducing the former pagan superstitions of the people, for the purpose of obtaining power, and his idea of establishing a temporal and independent kingdom on the Pacific isles, were all in antagonism to the plan laid down in the gospel for the redemption of man. The spirit manifested by Mr. Gibson proved that he was ignorant of the powers of the Priesthood, or that he ignored them for purely selfish motives. What they had seen and heard since their arrival, proved that the complaints made by the native Elders, in their letters to Utah, were correct, as far as they went, but the half had not been told.

Brother Benson's remarks were interpreted, after which, it was motioned that Mr. Gibson's course be disapproved. When this was put to a vote, all but one of the native Elders voted against the motion. This showed that Mr. Gibson still retained a strong hold on the minds of the Saints.

Notwithstanding this show of strong opposition, Brother Snow arose, and in his remarks prophesied that Mr. Gibson would see the time that not one of the Saints would remain with him.

Brother Joseph F. Smith remarked, that, among the scores of Elders who had labored on the islands, none had been so utterly wanting in the spirit and power of the gospel as to charge the Saints anything for conferring on them the blessings of the Priesthood, until Walter M. Gibson came, and had the presumption to claim that he had a right to ordain apostles and high priests, for a price—for money.

The Apostles informed Mr. Gibson and the Saints that, when they left the islands for home, Elder Joseph F. Smith would be left in charge of the mission. That all those who wished to be considered in good standing in the Church should leave Lanai and return to their homes on the other islands, where the branches would be reorganized and set in order by the brethren who would be left for that purpose.

The next day we returned to Lahaina, where we held a council and cut Mr. Gibson off from the Church. We returned to Honolulu, and, about eight days after, Apostles Snow and Benson took passage on the bark Onward, for San Francisco.

Brother Snow's prophecy was literally fulfilled. The Saints all left Mr. Gibson and returned to their former homes, as they had been counseled to do. The last one to leave him was Kailihune, the Elder who had been left to preside over the place of gathering on Lanai.

He finally rejoined the Church. All the plans of Mr. Gibson were completely frustrated. He is a prominent example of the nothingness of man, when he attempts to battle against the kingdom of God.

When the Elders were called home, in 1858, there had not been time to do much in gathering the Saints. As Mr. Gibson had succeeded in obtaining a personal title to the land leased for that purpose, on the island of Lanai, brothers Benson and Snow advised the Elders who remained, to notice in their travels what appeared to them the best places for this purpose, that, when the time came for it, a good selection might be made.

On the island of Oahu, and near the sea shore, lived a white man by the name of Doharty. He did not belong to the Church, but was friendly to the Saints, and the Elders frequently shared his hospitality. Between his house and the sea beach was a piece of ground, where grew a very dense thicket of a large shrub of a peculiar growth. Through this were paths made by the people and their domestic animals. Into this thicket the Elders when there were in the habit of daily retiring to pray. One day when I was walking along one of these paths, I saw President Young approach me. Said he "This is the place to gather the native Saints to." He seemed to fully comprehend the surroundings, and in that easy, familiar way, so characteristic of him, indicated the advantages afforded for a settlement. No matter what my bodily condition might have been at that time, the apparent meeting was in the open air and the broad light of day. It was as real to me as any fact of my life. I saw the facilities of the place as he represented them, and ever afterwards, that appeared to me the best place on the islands for the gathering of the Saints.

We remained on the islands about six months before other Elders arrived from Utah, and we were released to return home. When we arrived in San Francisco, we met Elders F. A. Hammond, and George Nebeker, on their way to the Sandwich Islands. They had instructions to visit, and carefully examine all the islands, and make the best possible location that could be made available, to establish a place for the gathering of the Saints.

I was afterwards informed, that they faithfully carried out their instructions, and at last decided that the place to which I have referred on the island of Oahu, was the best for the purpose. It was purchased, and many of the Saints are now gathered there.

They have an extensive sugar plantation, where labor is provided for them, and every possible facility is afforded for their advancement.