![Letterbook of the St. George Stake [microform] : 1874-1887. Reel 1](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Frail.huntington.org%2FIIIF3%2FImage%2F22APN4557IP5%2Ffull%2F%5E360%2C%2F0%2Fdefault.jpg&w=750&q=75)
Manuscripts
Microfilm of a letterbook kept by James G. Bleak at St. George, Utah, from 1874-1887. The first reel includes letters dated 1874-October 1881, while the second reel dates from October 1881 through 1887. Included throughout are references to operations in the St. George Stake, including the procurement of supplies, descriptions of land in Washington County, records of ordinance work, records of quarterly stake conferences, and work on the St. George Temple. The St. George United Order is also referenced throughout, including a letter urging conciliation over minor disagreements as per "the interests and spirit of the United Order" (May 6, 1874). Individual letters discuss Indian affairs (see for examples letters dated March 26, 1874, April 6, 1874, and April 14, 1874), including a letter from Jacob Hamblin (Indian agent in Kane County) following the death of several Navajos in which he asks that their goods be returned to their relatives (March 20, 1874) and a letter signed by Brigham Young, George A. Smith, and Erastus Snow noting that the "Indians have expressed a repugnance at being baptized in water that is not clear" (February 9, 1875). Other letters describe plans for an expedition from Harmony and Kanarra to Black Rock Canyon to work on a "Hurricane Edge" (May 1874), the completion of a wagon road to Mt. Trumbull (May 5, 1874), relations with local Lamonites (1875), letters from Brigham Young to his sons Ernest J. Young, who was serving on a mission to England (February 4, 1875), and Willard Young, a cadet at West Point (February 6, 1875), the return of St. George brethren from the Manti Temple (October 27, 1877), a list of articles inherited from the estate of Brigham Young (February 23, 1878), a comparative statistical statement of the Salt Lake and St. George Stakes (1879, p. 352), a biography of Richard Moore Bleak (p.250), a report on the exploration of the head waters of the Cottonwood in 1878 (p.295), an history of the establishment of the St. George Ward (p.425), a letter from John D. McAllister to John Taylor asking for the definition of adultery and whether offenders should be excommunicated after the first offense ( February 13, 1882), and an account of the funeral service of Artisima Beaman Snow 1882 (p.701). Authors of the letters include Brigham Young, George A. Smith, John W. Young, Robert Gardiner (President of the United Order of St. George), James Nixon, and John D. McAllister. Addressees include Jacob Hamblin, Thales Haskell, Ammon Tenney, William Snow, Wilson D. Pace, Edward Bunker, Edward Hunter, Williard and Ernest Young, Thomas Judd, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, Franklin D. Richards, and a "Moqueak [Indian leader] and his men" (March 24, 1874).
