Gibbons, Andrew Smith, 1825-1886

File — Box: 5, Folder: 22

Identifier: IV

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Andrew Smith Gibbons was born March 12, 1825, in Ohio. When an infant his father gave him to a family by the name of Smith, relatives of the Prophet Joseph Smith. In 1845 he married Rizpah Knight and left Nauvoo in 1846 at the time of the expulsion of the Saints. The following year he came to the Great Salt Lake Valley as one of the original pioneers under the leadership of Brigham Young. He returned east the same year to his family in Iowa and arrived in the valley a second time in 1852. He located in Bountiful and later move to Lehi. In 1854 he was called to Iron County to strengthen the settlements there. Here he became identified with the Indian mission then in charge of Jacob Hamblin. In 1858 in company with ten other men he visited the Pueblo Indian villages east of the Colorado River. In making this journey they traveled through a country then unknown to white men and crossed the Colorado River at the old Ute Crossing. In the spring of 1861 Gibbons moved to St. George where he was elected sheriff of Washington County. In 1865 he was called to the Muddy by Apostle Erastus Snow to locate and mediate between the whites and the Indians. In 1868 he represented Piute County, Arizona, in the Arizona legislature which met in Tucson. At the breaking up of the settlements on the Muddy, Gibbons moved to Glendale, Kane County, Utah, from which point he made several trips of exploration with Jacob Hamblin and James S. Brown into Arizona and New Mexico, looking to the colonization of the Saints in these territories. In 1880 he moved to St. Johns, Arizona. At the time of his death, February 9, 1886, at St. Johns, he was a member of the High Council of the Eastern Arizona Stake of Zion. This volume contains typescript copies of three short diaries, 1858, 1877, and 1878. The first of these (11 pages) begins November 21, 1858, and tells of Gibbons mission to the Oraibi and Moquis Indians with Benjamin Knell, William Hamblin (?), and Thomas Leavitt. The missionaries covered 350 miles of difficult travel. Feed for the horses was scarce and the temperature very cold with snow most of the distance. They arrived back at Fort Clara, December 27. The second diary (13 pages) begins March 15, 1877, to December 17. It relates a trip to St. George with Tuba and his wife who received their endowments in the temple. He returns to Long Valley and prepares to return to the MoenKopi. He meets President James S. Brown who had returned from the Navajo. He records a trip to Willow Springs to get a load of lumber for making molasses barrels. He visits several Indian villages and then starts on a visit to the settlements of the Little Colorado where he talks with Lot Smith, Ammon Tenney, J. A. Allen, Jesse O. Ballinger, and _______ Lake. He finds the prospects good for making a living. On December 8, 1877, he was appointed by Erastus Snow to take charge of the Indian mission at MoenKopi. The last diary in the volume (22 pages), is his missionary account of the year in MoenKopi. He tells of the planting of wheat, fruit trees, vegetables, grapes, and melons. Typical entries of the diaries follow:

June 1, 1878: Camped near Beaver Creek on the Rio Verde. Three companies--one cavalry and two of infantry--stationed here to hold the Apaches in check.
June 5, 1878: Camped at Gillet, a mining camp and quartz mill that works ore from the Tip Top Mine.
June 6, 1878: Arrived at Phoenix Ditch. This ditch taken from Salt River to irrigate the country surrounding Phoenix. Eight miles further brought us to Camp Utah.
June 10, 1878: Visited the "contemplated city plat. It is situated on a beautiful elevated plain extending south as far as the Gila River. This country is suitable to sustain a heavy population. It has the appearance of having been densely populated by the ancients, as the country is considerably covered with their ruins. I think this country excells anything I ever saw. Has fruit and grape vines."
July 5, 1878: Brother Feutz and Edmund Nelson started for Utah with loads of wool.
September 16, 1878: Worked on lime kiln. Brothers Tanner and Farnsworth went out on the Verde Trail to look for a vein of stove coal.
September 17, 1878: Erastus Snow and Company arrived from Utah--L. J. Nuttall, Len Hinckley, B. M. Williams, C. H. Oliphant, Edward Noble, and Jesse N. Smith.
October 1, 1878: Heard government party in charge of Professor Wheeler camped at Musha Spring.
October 19, 1878: Arrived at the Oraibi Village. Found Brother Tuba and wife there. Cordially received. Had an interview with Chief "LeLelamah." J. W. Young got his permission to copy some of the characters from the sacred stone.

Dates

1825-1886

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.