Mormon Oakley Tabernacle Speech, dated July 24, 1908
Handwritten twelve page speech given at the Oakley Tabernacle, a Mormon Church and Meeting House in Oakley, Idaho. The speech was delivered on a date which is highly significant in Mormon history- Pioneer Day, the commemoration of Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. The writing is extremely legible.
The subject of the speech is the migration of the Latter-day Saints to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, after having endured years of trial and suffering in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. The author compares the Saints to the "Children of Israel" escaping bondage in Egypt to the promised land and the "Puritan Pilgrims" escaping "out of the Old World to the New." There are also references to Passover and the Pesach Lamb, Mormon Pioneer Day (July 24th), the history of Mormonism and Joseph Smith, the "Great Empire in the Rocky Mountains," and President Brigham Young's first impression of the Salt Lake Valley (exclaimed as he was propped up by a pillow in the back seat of a carriage, "The very place").
The Oakley Tabernacle was built in 1902 by Mormon pioneers from Utah and used until 1953. It was destroyed by fire in 1965.
"The wonderful story of the Mormon Pioneers is The story, the half of which shall never be told. A merciful and All-wise Father led the Mormon Pioneers out of Illinois and Missouri into the valley of the Great Salt Lake. The same Father led ancient Israel out of Egypt into the land of Canaan. The same Father led the Puritan Pilgrims out of the Old world and into the new. In many respects these three great pilgrimages are similar. As we have said, they were led by the same merciful Father. In each case they leave their old abode because they can no longer tolerate the conditions under which they live. They leave for the purpose of securing religious liberty. In each case they are hated and despised by the people from whom they migrate. They are mocked and scorned, derided and villified, persecuted and driven. In each case they are driven in despair, but under the blessings of God they gather hope and faith and come out in joy triumphant. The results of these three migrations are among the most potent and powerful of all events in the history of the world."
The sermon continues a bit further with the following statement:
"Had there been no Mormon Pioneers there would have been no 'Great Empire in the Rocky Mountains.' Without them the Pacific slope would have been inhabited, and there would have been isolated ranches here and there in favored spots on the Rocky Mountain Plateau, but it took the fortitude and courage of the Mormon Pioneers to settle down upon the barren master and begin the reclamation of the desert. Irrigation was a lost art and it is altogether probable that it would have remained a lost art had it not been resurrected thru [sic] the slim necessities of the Mormon Pioneer." Item #61939
Price: $2,500.00