| 253 number of brethren waiting to get grinding done. We remained until next morning, and, as we had been on short rations for a number of days, we purchased some grain, and, as we could not get it ground until late in the day, we concluded to wait till next morning.
"'About thirty minutes past three o'clock p. m. that day (October 30) Bro. David Evans, Father Myers, and another brother returned from an appointed meeting with the mob, who agreed in writing to let the saints alone if the saints would let them alone. Bro. Evans said he did not feel like the mob intended to keep their word, and advised the brethren to keep out a double guard, and while he was organizing it and within half an hour after his return his fears were confirmed. . . . I had just finished eating. I caught my gun and hung my powder horn over my neck, when the buckskin string was cut by a ball fired by their leader, which also passed through my vest pocket, taking out my pocket knife. . . . The women and children were so terrified that some of them would run in front of the mob's guns and cry, "Murder! Murder!" . . . As one man was running to help cut him [Esq. McBride] down, swearing as he went, I fired my gun the first time. The ball passed through one hip and lodged in the other. He was always a cripple afterwards. . . . Two men had Bro. Warren Smith stripped of his coat, hat, and boots, and were dragging him around after he was dead and kicking him.... The first wound I received was in the finger of my right hand. The next in my left leg, and the next in my body, the ball entering just above the small of my back and lodging just below the pit of my stomach. The last shot brought me to my hands and knees. I recovered myself and tried to escape. . . . I made out to get three quarters of a mile farther through timber and brush, and secreted myself in some fallen tree tops. . . . I remained about three quarters of an hour. A little after sunset I saw Sister Polly Wood (formerly Miss Polly Merrill). I motioned for her to come to me. I could not call her, neither could I stand up. She came and tried to lead me back, but I was too weak. She then kneeled down and placed her hands on my wounds and prayed the Lord to
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