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The Dream Mine

AMERICAN INDIAN NEWS TICKER!!!

The Dream Mine sits near Salem, the product of visions received by a Utah County  farmer. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune)


 BY PHIL MILLER
@1999, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

   
    SALEM -- The Nephites were the first to find the gold, tons and tons of it, riches that would humble all of the wealth of Bill Gates, the Sultan of Brunei and the Queen of England put together.

    But abundance made the Nephites in The Book of Mormon prideful and greedy, and their treasures finally were seized by a wrathful God more than 2,000 years ago, and collected in nine great caverns.

    The colossal vaults are supported by enormous golden columns and piled high with ornaments and artifacts and priceless records documenting the ancient roots of the Mormon Church and the Nephites. And the bountiful chambers are surrounded by the richest lode of gold ore ever found on Earth, more gold than could be extracted in several generations.
    Of course, nothing has ever been found that remotely indicates such a fabulous stockpile ever existed, but that hasn't stopped some Utahns from believing in it. They believe the gold still is sealed, untouched since biblical times, deep inside a nondescript Wasatch Range mountain two miles east of Salem in Utah County.

    Only one man has claimed to have seen the wondrous hoard in two millennia: A modest, stooped, soft-spoken dirt farmer who said he accompanied the Angel Moroni on a breathtaking tour of the cache during a spectacularly vivid dream in 1894.

    That humble man, John Hyrum Koyle, died 50 years ago Monday at age 84.

    His followers -- and they still may number in the hundreds, perhaps thousands -- say he was guided by God. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says he was a heretic.

    But the glorious day is approaching, with a speed both terrifying and thrilling, when the Nephites' treasure will be revealed to all humankind, the believers say. That day, perhaps now only weeks or months away, will be the day when all civilization on Earth has collapsed into chaos and poverty. And that will be the day when Koyle's dream becomes the salvation for all who believe.

    Picture of Humility: A large portrait of Jesus Christ in an intricately carved frame dominates one wall of Ogden Kraut's Midvale publishing office. Mounted next to it is a slightly smaller, slightly plainer rendering of Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith. And beside the two hangs a photo of John Koyle.

    The display accurately sums up Kraut's spiritual priorities.

    "Probably the only man I could ever say for sure was a prophet, seer and revelator," Kraut says of Koyle, using the title Mormons reserve for the LDS Church president. "He was the most humble man I ever met. There was not a shadow of vanity or pride about him, but when you were with him, you knew he was led by the Lord."

    Those are dangerous words for a Mormon, since the church long ago branded Koyle a charlatan, but Kraut, a retired military photographer, was excommunicated in 1972 for his beliefs, including polygamy. Though he considers himself a follower of Joseph Smith's teachings, Kraut can speak without regard to the reaction of today's LDS general authorities.

    Other believers in Koyle's Dream Mine, as the real mine he founded and help dig is commonly called, cannot. A knock on several doors in Salem, 60 miles south of Salt Lake City, recently produced polite but firm refusals to discuss the mine. A few would confirm that they own stock, but nothing more. Some suggested that Satan, trying to cause a rift between Salem's Latter-day Saints and Mormon leadership, had inspired the visit.

    But the mine exists, and the odd white step-shaped mill on the mountainside, visible for miles, proves it. No serious mining has gone on inside the mountain for nearly 40 years, but the reorganized Relief Mine Co., the official name of the Dream Mine, still maintains the property and mining claims, conducts annual state-required assays, and calls a shareholder meeting every May.

    Relief Mine Co. owns more than 1,000 acres of land, worth about $5 million today and more valuable every year as the expensive modern subdivision called Woodland Hills creeps closer. Tenant farmers work about 100 acres, and a gravel pit on the property produces just enough income to cover the company's $9,000 tax bill.

    Nearly 700,000 shares of stock have been issued, but nobody knows how many have been tucked away in attics, or sold to memorabilia collectors or thrown out by disbelieving descendants. About 150,000 shares were registered by current stockholders at last week's annual meeting, or 22 percent of the outstanding total.

    Everything is tidy and legal, but Relief Mine Co. isn't about gravel pits or dividends or the now-dead orchards on the land. The company and its stockholders merely are marking time until a century-old prophecy comes true and the riches of the Nephites are brought forth to save the Earth.

    That day is not far off, Kraut says.

    "I have seen more signposts in the last six months than I have in the last 50 years combined," he says confidently. "Look at the signs -- Y2K, a war in the Balkans, a wicked president and an unstable economy that could fall apart at any moment.

    "I've been waiting 52 years for the conditions to be right and the mine to come in. Now that it's almost here, it's a little frightening."

    The riches of the mine are close, he says, and will take only one day to reach once the time is right. But until that time, he believes, 10 years of digging would not be enough to find the gold ore.

    Kraut estimates a few thousand Mormons believe Koyle's dream, as he does, but says all will be convinced once the mine comes in. "It will bring more members to the church than all the missionaries who have gone out put together," he says.

    Anyone who met Koyle more than five decades ago can have no doubt about the truthfulness of his vision, Kraut says. The small man with cataracts could talk with unequaled fervor and sincerity.

    "Nobody could doubt that he spoke for the Lord. There was a reverence that I have never seen, before or since," says Kraut, who worked in Koyle's mine for two years in the late 1940s before serving an LDS mission. "I miss those days, those memories."

    Reluctant Visionary: John Koyle never fancied himself an oracle, and never showed off his gift for public amusement or entertainment. But stories of his ability to see the future through his dreams abound, from scholarly books on his life to anecdotes shared by friends.

    He predicted the 1929 stock-market crash to the exact day, believers claim, and his 1940s prophecy that "muddy waters will run through the streets and cause disruptions the length of the state" has been interpreted as foretelling Utah's disastrous 1983 floods and mudslides.

    After Herbert Hoover's election to the presidency in 1928, Koyle told friends that one man, a Democrat, would win the next four elections. Franklin Roosevelt did.

    According to Kraut, in 1941, when dentist Albert Brooksby's son enlisted in the military, Brooksby anxiously asked Koyle how long World War II would last. The elderly miner didn't know.

    The next morning, Koyle contacted his friend. "I know now," he said, and predicted a four-year campaign that would end by September 1945. The news spread quickly in Utah County, and many people were confident of its validity.

    Utah County resident Steve Woods, relying on Koyle's prediction, even assured Deseret News sports editor Les Goates in late July 1945 that the coming World Series and college football season would be played as scheduled because the war nearly was over. This despite the fact that the Japanese still occupied much of Asia and the Pacific islands, and experts were predicting a long and bloody liberation campaign.

    A skeptical Goates wrote a column mocking Woods' confidence. "Everything is going to be sweetness and light for traveling football, baseball and basketball teams by Sept. 1," his Deseret News column read July 27, 1945. "Steve Woods says so!"

    A month later, after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered.

    If Koyle's dreams seemed an astonishing gift, it was one that he never sought. Actually, he resisted it at first. He grew up in Spanish Fork, a deeply religious son of pioneer parents. In 1886, the dreams began.

    Spirits visited the 22-year-old farmer one night, Koyle said, and instructed him that they would prove their righteousness with a vision. They showed him that his cow, missing for several days, could be found at a certain place on his farm, its right horn broken and interfering with its eye.

    When his cow stood at the exact spot the next day, broken horn and all, Koyle believed. So devout did he become, in fact, that Koyle spent his life trying to fulfill the most splendid and important vision he ever received, the prophecy that came eight years later and gave him unbridled joy but eventually cost the anguished old man a place in his church: The Dream Mine.

    Heavenly Messenger: Koyle said the Angel Moroni visited him the night of Aug. 27, 1894. Latter-day Saints believe Moroni was the last Nephite prophet and that he delivered to Joseph Smith the records from which The Book of Mormon was translated. Moroni took Koyle to the top of nearby Loafer Mountain, and the earth opened up so the two could walk inside.

    Koyle said his guide pointed out where he was to dig, what signs to watch for, what formations he would have to overcome. Then he ushered Koyle into nine wondrous caverns the ancient Nephites had left behind, impressing him with riches he barely could comprehend.

    Even more overwhelming was the reason to dig for the lode: There is a coming calamity on Earth, Koyle was told, with financial collapse, starvation, natural disasters. Paper money would be worthless, and $20 bills would blow like trash in the gutter, not worth the trouble of bending over to pick them up. A bushel of gold would buy a bushel of wheat.

    But the Nephite treasure would provide for all who needed its help. It would save the people who came to it, the greatest welfare program the world ever has seen. Thus Koyle called it the Relief Mine.

    To prove the dream was true, the messenger said, a nearby dry well suddenly would flow with water the next day at noon. When Koyle returned home from farming the next evening, his wife, Emily, met him at the gate. She excitedly told him that their neighbors whooped with excitement when they stuck water that day -- at precisely noon.

    Still, Koyle had to persuade his friends to believe his dream and join him in mining the mountain. He took one fellow farmer up the mountain to where he proposed to start digging, and predicted they would hit a cream-colored formation within three feet of the surface. They did, and soon people were showing up from all over the state to work in the Dream Mine.

    "It was the midst of a tremendous mining boom in this country, when you could seemingly turn over any rock and reveal some fabulous mineral," says Zeese Papanikolas, a historian who has written about Koyle and the Dream Mine. "The economy of mining was so hot, Koyle's story probably seemed very believable."

    Koyle and his followers staked mining claims on the mountain and began digging Sept. 17, 1894. They incorporated as the Koyle Mining Co. and began selling stock to raise money. Miners were paid in stock as well, and soon more than a quarter-million shares had been issued.

    As word of Koyle's work spread, thousands of eager investors, nearly all of them Mormons, clamored to buy stock. Some sold possessions to buy more, convinced that, despite geologists' reports deeming its ore worthless, each $1 investment someday would return $1,000.

    "The mine became a big part of everyday life in Utah County," says Papanikolas. "It was part social organization, part religious organization, part employment agency. Nearly everybody in the south county took part to some extent, by buying stock if nothing else."

    Mining continued for 20 years, with the path of each shaft directed by Koyle's dreams. But in January 1914, when miners had burrowed 1,400 feet into the mountain, Koyle was visited by two mysterious men. They instructed him to shift his work to the other side of the mountain and downslope, to dig a tunnel that would intersect with the mine.

    Convinced that the visitors had been two of the three Nephites that the Book of Mormon says had been left on Earth by Jesus to spread his gospel, Koyle and his workers began boring a second entrance into the mountain. Six months later, under pressure from the LDS Church, they abandoned the work, but Koyle was persuaded to continue mining in 1920.

    By that time, the timber supports had become unsafe in the original shaft, so miners focused completely on the tunnel. Koyle kept the shaft perfectly straight without any modern sighting tools -- so straight that a worker can kneel at the tunnel's end, 3,400 feet into the mountain, and see light at the entrance, miners say.

    In 1932, when the company had little money, Koyle announced it was time to build a mill to process the ore. The mine's board of directors turned him down, but Koyle raised the money himself and soon the modern-looking "white sentinel" building was erected on the northwest slope. Trouble was, the equipment necessary to pull any valuable minerals from the seemingly worthless rock had not been invented, so the mill remained empty.

    When enthusiasm flagged, some event or timely prediction always reignited the fervor.

    His followers testified Koyle correctly predicted geologic formations in the mine -- a sudden reversal of the ore's pattern, or the discovery of a perfect outline of the United States embedded in the granite.

    Miners followed Koyle's directions to start digging straight down again near the tunnel's end, and uncovered a "capstone," so solid it took two months just to bore through its 3-foot depth. They also dug a "winze," a declining shaft toward where Koyle said the caverns lie, but it filled with water a few years after his death.

    Despite all the digging, nearly two miles of tunnels in the mountain, the mine never struck the rich golden ore Koyle had predicted. Though a patient man, Koyle was disappointed his vision never materialized, especially since he interpreted the Great Depression as one of the signs that financial chaos was near.

    By the mid-1940s, Koyle, now an elderly man weathered by a lifetime of hard work, was convinced the mine was about to come in, and his belief sparked renewed enthusiasm among residents. They came out each Thursday night to his weekly mine conferences, which offered the electricity of a revival meeting, and the Dream Mine hit a fever pitch.

    Then, suddenly, the walls caved in on Koyle's spirit. His heart was broken.

    Falling Away? Mormon Church doctrine holds that members can receive guidance from spiritual powers, but revelations concerning the flock as a whole always are channeled through the ruling First Presidency. So while Koyle was free to pursue his dream, the LDS leadership had warned him for decades against using church doctrine to persuade other Latter-day Saints to join him.

    Mormon President Joseph F. Smith and his two counselors signed a statement published by the church-owned Deseret News that year, saying "when visions, dreams, tongues, prophecy, impressions or an extraordinary gift of inspiration conveys something out of harmony with the accepted revelations of the church . . . it is not of God, no matter how plausible it may appear. . . . It is our duty to warn against mining schemes which have no warrant for success."

    Koyle, who had been appointed bishop of Salem's Leland Ward in 1908, was removed from the post. A year later, the church persuaded him to shut the mine.

    But Koyle, who continued to receive what he believed was divine guidance through his dreams, decided he must begin mining again in 1920.

    It was a conflict that beleaguered him all his life. "John didn't know what to do. He wanted to obey the authorities, yet he could not deny what had been revealed to him," Koyle's sister said shortly after his death. "We all felt sorry for him."

    The previous warning against believing in the mine was published again in the Deseret News in 1945, this time signed by President George Albert Smith and his counselors.

    And, in 1947, when reports of Koyle's Thursday-night meetings persisted, the church held a formal trial before his stake's high council. According to Kraut's book on the Relief Mine, Koyle finally made a deal: He would sign a statement repudiating the mine and his angelic vision, which would be kept secret, and would cease the meetings, in exchange for a meeting with the LDS Church's First Presidency.

    Koyle believed he could change President Smith's mind about the mine, because he had been given information by Moroni that would convince the LDS leader.

    But as he rode home from the trial, Koyle burst into tears, Kraut recalls. He knew he had made a mistake by signing the document, because he had been warned in a dream about ever signing any papers regarding the mine.

    The next day, his statement was printed on the front page of the Deseret News. His followers were stunned.

    Koyle soon resumed his Thursday meetings, and assured his shaken followers that he had signed only to preserve his church membership.

    A year later, on April 1, 1948, a feeble Koyle was excommunicated.

    "He was as devout as they come. He couldn't believe the church would treat him that way," Kraut says.

    "It made him very sad, because he believed the general authorities just didn't understand. The mine was for the church's benefit. Its gold will be used to build the great temple in New Jerusalem someday," he says, referring to a Mormon prophecy about the church's future.

    Distraught over his fate and weakened by heart trouble, Koyle died May 17, 1949, in a Payson hospital. His Deseret News obituary made no mention of the mine to which he had devoted his life.
    "He was inspired," Kraut insists. "Anyone who met him could tell instantly. And someday soon, the church will believe it, too."

RELIEF MINE

The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of Hosts.

(Haggai 2:8)

by

Ogden Kraut

Table of Contents

Pioneer Press

3332 Ft. Union Blvd.

(801) 943-5651

Typography by

Anne Wilde

1st printing, 1978

2nd printing, 1980

3rd printing, 1985

4th printing, 1990

5th printing, 1993

A man or a woman who places the wealth of this world and the things of

time in the scales against the things of God and the wisdom of eternity, has

no eyes to see, no ears to hear, no heart to understand.

What are riches for? For blessings, to do good.

Then let us dispense that which the Lord gives us to the best possible

use for the building up of his Kingdom, for the promotion of the truth on the

earth that we may see and enjoy the blessings of the Zion of God here upon

this earth.

Brigham Young

J. of D. 15:18

CONTENTS

PREFACE

1 INTRODUCTION . . . . . 7

2 THE GIFT OF DREAMS . . . . 10

3 JOHN H. KOYLE: THE MAN AND HIS GIFT . . 24

4 CHURCH MISSION . . . . 29

5 THE MINING MISSION . . . . 35

6 THE WORK BEGINS . . . . 42

7 OPPOSITION BEGINS . . . . 55

8 MEN AND MINES IN CRUCIBLES . . . 78

9 A PROPHET, SEER, AND REVELATOR . . 93

10 THE WHITE SENTINEL . . . . 125

11 THE MODERN GLADIATORS . . . . 142

12 DEATH OF A MAN AND A MINE . . . 165

13 PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT . . 186

14 THE MODERN GOLD RUSH . . . . 193

15 CONCLUSION . . . . . 208

* * * * *

* * *

*

PREFACE

Very little has been written or published concerning John Koyle's Dream

Mine. He himself wrote nothing--not even a journal--so what has been written

has come from those who knew Bishop John Koyle or were witnesses to some of

his prophecies and their fulfillment. He was instructed by a heavenly

messenger never to write or sign anything about this mine, certainly a

different policy than for other similar endeavors.

Thus after so many years, much controversy and speculation, both pro

and con, have accumulated about the man and his mine. The complete story could

easily provide material for a great many books. However, the significance of

that man's mission will not be properly recognized and written until that

mammoth project is vindicated.

The author of this publication both knew and worked for John H. Koyle

at his mine. Being closely associated with Koyle and his family and friends, I

ate with him at his table, worked with him in the fields of his farm, labored

under his direction at the mine, and knelt with him in prayer. I saw his

greatness as an inspired instrument in the hands of God, and also saw a few of

his human weaknesses. To those who really knew him, there is little doubt that

he was one of those outstanding souls whom the world is rarely privileged to

receive in a generation.

John Koyle's Mine, unlike most other mines, became a spiritual project

from the day of its inception. In its final destiny it will also blossom into

a most sacred work under the direction of Him who has placed a seal upon the

treasures of the earth. That mine was never operated as other mines--the

workmen were unlike other miners, and its purposes will not be the same as any

other mine. Only time shall unfold the mysteries and purposes of this

remarkably strange but inspired mining venture.

--The Author

[7] Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Gold has been a very useful metal to man from the earliest records of

civilization. (Gen. 2:11) It was used primarily for ornamentation and as a

standard of money. (Gen. 44:8) Gold became extremely abundant in ancient times

(I Chron. 22:14, 2 Chron. 1:15, Dan. 3:1, Nah. 2:9), and was soon used for a

multitude of purposes. Wirethreads of gold were woven into tapestry and into

the garments of priests (Ex. 39). It also became the principle metal used in

the royal crowns of kings. (Ex. 25:25)

Foremost among ancient goldsmiths was King Solomon. Vast amounts of

gold were brought to him from many different mines (I Kings 10:2,14,21), and

in great quantities. Solomon's great fortunes did not come to him by luck,

inheritance, nor thievery. They came to him when he appealed to God for wisdom

to rule the children of Israel in righteousness, and then God bestowed upon

him both wisdom and wealth.

Solomon was also given a special mission to build the holy temple that

his father David failed to accomplish. To construct this grand edifice,

Solomon received instructions from God as to how to build it and where to find

the treasures to adorn it. Thus gold contributed greatly to the wealth and

power of the kingdom of Israel and also to the beauty and splendor of God's

holy temple. It is in this portion of the scriptures that gold was used

properly and without covetousness. Gold has rarely been used by man as God

intended it to be used.

[8] During the Middle Ages many men were caught up in the fever of

alchemy--or the ability to create gold from other metals or minerals. For

hundreds of years men spent much time and money attempting to produce this

precious metal from other common elements. This lust for gold has never

subsided.

Whenever men have heard the word "gold", it has acted upon them like a

strange fever. The discovery of gold has created human stampedes for the

precious metal. By boat, horseback or on foot, men have traversed the globe in

the hope of finding their fortunes in gold. Both men and women have endured

great hardships, suffered untold sacrifices, and many have died from the

severe exposures to heat and cold in their futile quest for wealth.

The California gold rush created a panic and a population boom. Prices

soared with the influx of people, and a little shack rented for as much as

$100 per week. Food prices also soared beyond reason.

Later, in 1897, the Klondike of the Yukon became another gold rush

field. Skagway was at first only a dock with a general store, but three weeks

after the strike it was a boom town with 4,000 people. Food shortages caused a

plate of ham and eggs to sell for $10.00. One year over 10,000 prospectors

started out for Dawson, but only 2,000 made it there. Many died from cold,

hunger and disease, while the others were forced to turn back.

For many centuries a legend has been handed down telling of a great

gold mine called the "El Dorado" (richly gilded). It originated with the vast

riches of a king who once lived in South America, but no one knew where his

wealth came from. Legend says that the "El Dorado"' would again be found, so

many men have set out to find this last treasure house of wealth. When the

mines of California, Alaska, Australia and South Africa were discovered, it

was hoped each one would lead to the vast fortunes of "El Dorado". But to this

day that treasure has not been uncovered.

[9] Men have abandoned the comforts of home and family to search for this

mysterious metal. They have plodded across barren deserts, scaled the snow

capped mountains and lived the lonely life of hermits as they picked and

scratched for a glimpse of that yellow ore. John Jaques wrote:

What will not men do for gold? They will toil for it, lie for it,

swear for it, steal for it, murder for it, live for it, and die for it.

They will do more, and suffer more, ten times over, for gold, than they

will do or suffer for eternal life and happiness. The world is almost

crazy after gold, for gold is the world's god. `For gold, men are found

ready to sell themselves, soul and body--to swear black is white--to vote

for anything or anybody--to cross seas and deserts--to rake mud, riddle

dirt, and work with spade, pickaxe, and cradle, among ruffians and

desperadoes, in California and Australia,' yet, `What shall it profit a

man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?' ("Gold",

Mill. Star 14:369)

Gold is perhaps one of the most useful and the most beautiful of all

metals. It is used in decorations, jewelry and ornaments. Men have filled

their teeth and their bank vaults with it--and also adorned church altars and

temples with it. Gold possesses properties which make it useful because it

does not rust, corrode, or tarnish. It is soft to work with, yet resistant to

most chemicals. Scientists call gold ductile because it can be drawn out into

an extremely fine wire. Gold lace is made by twining extremely fine stripe of

gold around silk. One troy ounce of gold can be drawn into a strand over 50

miles long. It is also called malleable because it can be hammered into

extremely thin sheets. Modern technology has made gold alloy sheets or gold

leaf so thin that it becomes transparent and light can shine through it. This

sheeting can be pounded into a thickness of 1/200,000 of an inch thick. Most

of these sheets are used in art work lettering and gilding. The [10] ancient

Egyptians knew how to hammer gold into leaves so thin that it took 367,000

leaves to make a pile an inch thick.

All of the gold mined since Columbus discovered America could be place

into a cube about 50 feet square. Thus it is still a rare and precious metal

which men seek after.

Once the ancient children of Israel made an image of a calf from molten

gold. It was then used for their worship. Today the lure and lust for gold is

still an object of man's worship. Thus, it will require a special chosen few

to overcome that passion for wealth so that the purposes of God can be

accomplished. When the day comes that men will not regard gold any more than

any other metal, it will be the day that God can use them as His servants and

bestow upon them all the treasures of the earth.

[11] Chapter 2

THE GIFT OF DREAMS

Dreams, and the interpretation of dreams, raised a Daniel from

slavery or degrading captivity in Babylon, to wear a royal chain of gold,

and to teach royalty how to rule, whilst himself presided over the

governors and presidents of more than a hundred provinces. (Key to

Theology, P.P. Pratt, p. 124)

Divine Instruction through Dreams

God in His wisdom, bestows many gifts and talents upon mortals so that

His work on earth can be accomplished. The gift of dreams has been a common

means of communication between God and mortals. He has conveyed instruction,

warnings, prophecies and comfort through this wondrous manifestation. Many of

God's servants who have been given these gifts were poor, unlearned and

unpopular; yet they have been willing to endure scorn, ridicule and often

persecution from the worldly. Man's opposition to the revelations of God has

been a common occurrence throughout history.

It is the privilege of every child of God, in every age of the world,

to receive divine revelation and spiritual gifts. He has promised to dispense

His gifts to everyone. The Lord has revealed that we should--

[12] ". . . seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what

they are given; for verily I say unto you, they are given for the benefit

of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh

so to do; that all may be benefited that seek or that ask of me, ... (D &

C 46:8-9)

Men may receive dreams, visions, the visitation of angels, etc.,

according to their worthiness, for these signs would follow true believers. If

men cease to have faith in God's revelations, then the gifts and powers from

God are lost. When King Saul offended God, then God refused to speak to him

and "when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by

dreams, nor by Urim, nor by the prophets." (I Sam. 28:6) This sad story has

been repeated in nearly every generation of mankind.

Today there is as much necessity for Divine revelation and spiritual

gifts as there ever was; but the wickedness, the transgression and the common

disbelief of men have caused God to withhold many of His spiritual blessings.

It is upon this premise that the men of this generation stand to suffer the

wrath of God. Famines, wars, plagues and many other forms of destruction await

this generation, for they have rejected more of God's light and revelation

than any other generation of the world. With disaster impending upon this

nation and the world, wise men should seek out and hold fast to the word of

God for both their temporal and spiritual salvation.

Just prior to the time of destruction, God has always prepared a way

and a means of protection and safety for His people. Abraham, Moses, Noah, and

a host of other prophets and saints were spared because they believed in the

revelations that God had given.

[13] Dreams are great and glorious gifts of God to man, and they are

given for his benefit, or his holiest and most deserving servants would

not alone receive them, or be called upon to interpret them. They are

promised, however, by the Apostle to all believers, and that they are,

indeed, believers, and that they are in that road which will lead them on

to salvation. (Mill. Star 26:293)

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah saying, "The prophet that hath a dream, let

him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully."

(Jer. 23:28) But all too often men fail to acquaint themselves with this

useful medium through which God often dispenses his wisdom and instruction.

Thus, most of God's gifts are rejected, or misunderstood by men--and therein

lies their condemnation.

. . . Now, reader, you need present revelation from God to your own dear

self, in order to help you out of this nasty, confused labyrinth, and to

set your feet firmly upon the solid rock of revelation. Mere flesh and

blood cannot help you now. It requires an Almighty arm to effect your

deliverance. Therefore, put no more trust in man, for a curse rests upon

him that will be guided by the precepts of man. I do not ask you to be

guided by what I say to you, unless the Lord from heaven shall reveal to

you that I speak the truth, even as it is in Christ. Although I know that

I am declaring heaven's truth to you, in all sobriety, yet my knowing it

does not suffice for you. You also must know it for yourself, and not for

another. This is your right and your privilege. For God has made this

promise to you, and not to you, reader only, but to all others whom He

calls to repentance. Now, go and get revelation for yourself. (Mill. Star

15:273)

[14] Often men are saved because they believed in the revelations of God,

and just as often many are destroyed because they reject them. In times of

peril or disaster, God may reveal strange and peculiar ways of saving those

who believe in His revelations. God commanded Abraham and others to depart out

of Babylon; both Noah and Nephi were told to build a boat; Moses had to take

up a rod; and Joseph had to store up grain. These were a few of many unusual

but tangible means of temporal salvation. Because they were obedient, they

were protected. Hence, God may use similar or other peculiar means to save His

people in these last days.

King Solomon

Anciently God periodically gave great power or wealth to his people

when they were obedient to Him. One of the most striking examples was the

sovereign powers and tremendous wealth He bestowed upon the Kingdom of David

under the rule of his son Solomon.

The era of David and Solomon was called the Golden Age of Hebrew

history. David established the kingdom, but Solomon contributed most to its

splendor and completion. At that time Israel became the most powerful kingdom

in all the world; Jerusalem was the most magnificent city, and the temple was

the most beautiful building. People came from the ends of the earth to see the

glory that belonged to Israel and to hear the wisdom of Solomon. When the

Queen of Sheba came and saw it, she exclaimed, "The half was not told me."

Solomon began construction of the temple in about 966 B.C., during the

fourth year of his reign (Kings 6:1) and finished it seven and a half years

later. The Lord bestowed upon him wealth that has not been equalled since. God

was piled upon his kingdom in great abundance. The temple was probably the

most expensive edifice ever undertaken by man, for Solomon used as much as $4

billion [15] in gold and silver in its construction. Gold was used everywhere.

It was used in shields, buckler's, the vessels of the palace, and his throne

was ivory overlaid with gold. Gold in Jerusalem became as common as stones. (I

Kings 10:10-22; 2 Chron. 1:15.)

King Solomon's mines were undoubtedly given to him by the Lord, in

fulfillment of God's promise to him. These vast fortunes may have been shown

to him through the gift of dreams, which Solomon possessed, for the Lord had

occasions appeared to Solomon through this divine medium. (See I Kings 3:5,

9:2.)

In the last days God has also promised that the kingdom of David would

again be established in much more power and wealth than it ever was before.

Greater wealth of the earth and greater power with God will be manifest in the

last days to His people. (See Isa. 23:18.)

Thus it is that often men are directed to the location and use of

precious metals and minerals. Indeed the more righteous a people become, the

more blessings of prosperity and peace the heavens will bestow upon them.

The gold and the silver belong to the Lord Almighty, and He will

hand it over to us as fast as we know how to use it to His name's glory.

(Brigham Young, J.D. 8:204)

Jesse Knight's Mine

A good example in our generation of God's intervention into the affairs

of men's financial needs is best portrayed in the life of Jesse Knight. For

many years the U.S. Government had been the cause of persecution, oppression

and even confiscation of Church property and wealth. In the early 1890's the

LDS Church made several major concessions to the Government in exchange for

relief from such unjust persecutions. It was then that the [16] Church, the

State and the Nation fell into a major depression and financial bondage.

Saints and gentiles alike were crying for relief.

It was about this time that Jesse Knight had a most unusual but vivid

manifestation. In 1896 he filed a mining claim stating to a friend that he was

shown in a dream that he would find a great store of ore. The friend replied,

"Humbug!" So that's what Jesse named his mining venture.

In a dream, or vision, there was revealed to him that Utah was for

the Mormons; that the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints were true; that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God; also

if he went to a certain place (indelibly imprinted on his mind), that he

would find a great vein of rich mineral--a mine.

He followed the instructions given him in his dream, which took him

to the now well-known Eureka Mining District. Then, way up on the

mountain, he found the spot he had seen in his dream, and he uncovered

the vein which led to a vast mineral body, which was opened up, only by

much hard labor and many vicissitudes. (Pioneers and Prominent Men of

Utah, Frank Esshom, p. 8)

For awhile things looked very discouraging. But Jesse Knight was well

acquainted with poverty and the struggles of a life of hardships. He had

crossed the plains to Utah in 1850 with his widow mother, Lydia, when he was

only a young lad. He held the reins of a wagon drawn by two cows; and when the

wagon stopped, he searched for roots and plants for the family to eat.

When he grew to manhood and married, he lived in a two-room adobe home

and had five children. Jesse was never very active in the Mormon Church, and

was some-[17]times even critical of some who were. Once his daughters became

severely ill and one of them died. It was then that Jesse vowed that he would

do whatever God wanted him to do. After this experience, he was impressed to

go to Eureka and stake a claim in the mining fields.

Jesse and his son Will set up a little one-room shack at Eureka. But it

appeared there was not much chance of ever getting ore from their claim. But

one day Jesse announced to the surprise of his son:

Will, I want to tell you something. We are going to have . . . all

the money we want, as soon as we are in a position to handle it properly.

We will also some day save the credit of the Church. (Towns of Tintic,

Beth K. Harris, p. 161)

Jesse always c]aimed that he worked his mines under a Divine influence.

No one could offer much of an argument otherwise, as the ore began to pour in.

He even told his son and others when and where he would make his first big

"strike". One of his sons later wrote:

Wealth to him was a great responsibility. He felt it had come to him

through divine promptings, and he knew the use he made of the same was

his answer to the trust imposed. (The Jesse Knight Family, Jesse Wm.

Knight, 1940, p. 6)

One day Jesse met President Wilford Woodruff on the street and inquired

of him how things were going with him. Woodruff replied that they were not

very good--the government had caused the Church so much trouble during the

crusades that they were in debt over $10,000, and he had no idea as to how

they could raise that much money. Jesse reached into his pocket and pulled out

a check for his first shipment of ore, which was for slightly more than

$11,000, and gave it to President Woodruff. Such was the way he constantly

used his wealth and how he "saved the credit of the Church".

[18] When he found his ore in the "Humbug Mine", he went to drilling in the

"Uncle Sam". He told his men to make a sharp turn to the right. They did and

broke into a great body of high-grade ore. He then went into the "Beck" shaft

telling his men to "run the drift to the east from the bottom of the shaft."

Following his instructions, they found a mother lode of silver. After leaving

directional and particular instructions to his men in the "Colorado", they

labored without any indication of success, but soon discovered the ore that

Jesse had predicted would be found.

It was this way in mine after mine with Jesse repeating the

performance and pointing the way. Time after time, he pointed to a black

wall that showed nothing and said it contained ore. It is a story that

cannot be equalled in the history of mining. In Tintic, Jesse Knight was

known as "the Mormon Wizard". (Towns of Tintic, p. 162)

Money piled up in the banks as Jesse uncovered deposit after deposit of

silver and lead. Oddly, his fortune was dedicated to a church, and according

to his own prediction, he saved the credit of the Mormon Church. He poured his

money toward wiping out over a million dollars of Church debts. Then, almost

single-handed, he built the Brigham Young University.

Jesse's income was over $10,000 a month and for years he was the

Church's largest tithe payer, and his mines poured out nearly $12 million in

ore. Near Eureka he built a town which he called Knightsville. He constructed

a chapel (which was also used for a school), and it was soon the leading ward

for attendance and tithes. Anyone preparing to go on a mission could always

find work with "Uncle" Jesse. His little town had a post office, a general

store, a barber shop, and other businesses. One boarding house had 200 people

in this town of a little over 1,000 population--Knightsville became so purged

that people called it the place of the "Sunday School Mines". That [19] little

mining town was perhaps the only one of its stature in the United States. But

the workers were happy because "Uncle" Jesse paid higher wages than any other

mine--plus he gave them Sunday off. He provided socials, parties, dances and

other entertainments to keep the people from the saloons and gambling houses.

He felt that his wealth was a stewardship and he was always willing to be a

"soft touch" for people in need. For him wealth had a special purpose and he

was conscientious in its use.

Jesse Knight became a leading spirit in a determination to do what was

right. He provided work for hundreds and thousands of people in his mines,

smelter, co-op stores, investment company, power company, coal company, bank,

sugar company, irrigation company, woollen mills and cattle ranches. This

young boy, who scratched for food among sego roots and watched his mother

sewing by candlelight and taking in washing for a living, proved to be one of

the few men who ever struck a bonanza and understood the true value of riches.

His life became a life of service for others. During the depression years he

provided work for many poor men, so that they could honorably provide food and

clothes for their families. He also redeemed his church from its temporal

bondage.

Eighty-year-old Karl Fields, Eureka's oldest living citizen, and a

personal friend of Jesse Knight, said to the author: "Jesse Knight was one of

the finest men ever born. It's too bad that men like him have to die."

"Uncle" Jesse Knight was a rare miner and a rare man. He left behind

more value in his example than in the multi-millions of dollars of ore that

came from his mines.

Hence we see that God saved His Church from its financial bondage by

revealing the source of ore from mines. Today the nation and the world are on

the brink of another depression, more terrible and dreadful than any [20]

other in the nation's history. Under such conditions it may well be that God

will save Israel by the use of gold and minerals from out of the earth.

The Ancient Nephites

Anciently the Nephites were blessed with untold amounts of rich ores.

The Lord blessed His Church more than other people with these riches.

And now, because of the steadiness of the church they began to be

exceeding rich, having abundance of all things whatsoever they stood in

need--an abundance of flocks and herds, and fatlings of every kind, and

also abundance of grain, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious

things, and abundance of silk and fine-twined linen, and all manner of

good homely cloth.

And thus, in their prosperous circumstances, they did not send away

any who were naked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that

were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their

hearts upon riches; therefore they were liberal to all, both old and

young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the

church or in the church, having no respect to persons as to those who

stood in need.

And thus they did prosper and become far more wealthy than those who

did not belong to their church. (Alma 1:29-31; see also Helaman 6:9, 11)

The Modern Israelites

The Lord has in our time hinted that this people would become wealthy

by similar means--and He also adds a warning that it should not be the means

of our destruction as it was to the Nephites.

[21] And if ye seek the riches which it is the will of the Father to give

unto you, ye shall be the richest of all people, for ye shall have the

riches of eternity; and it must needs be that the riches of the earth are

mine to give; but beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old.

(D. & C. 38:39)

Many mines have been and still are being worked as the result of some

form of spiritual direction. Peter Hurkos, the world famous psychic, used his

gift to locate the renowned "Lost Dutchman Mine" near Phoenix, Arizona. He

turned over the mine and its wealth to a psychic research organization for

further study and research into the gift and power of such manifestations.

The Bumble Bee Mine in Oregon Gulch, the Star Mine, the Wallace Mine

and the Utica Mine, all located in California, were successful ventures having

been found by spiritual means.

Around the turn of the century a poor man working as a ranch hand in

Larson County, California, dreamed of a rich vein of ore. He clearly saw the

ore, how it could be found, and where it was located. For three nights in

succession he saw the same dream. The third night he was commanded to act upon

the instructions given to him in the dream or else his chance for wealth would

be lost forever. He immediately set out to comply to the instructions given to

him. As a result, he became a millionaire.

A woman in Sacramento also had a dream or vision given to her of the

location of a vast treasure. She was shown that an old abandoned mine in

Nevada City still possessed a vast fortune in wealth and she could easily find

it if she would go to the place and file claim to it. But her husband wouldn't

listen to such "nonsense". Later someone else was looking through that old

mine and discovered the ore. The mine was soon into production and became the

fabulously wealthy Murchie Mine.

[22] Of course, not all mines are discovered by spiritual means, nor are all

spiritualists able to locate mines. The Holy Ghost Mine at Angels Camp,

California, was worked by spiritualists but never produced. Another mine was

worked by some spiritualists who zigzagged back and forth through the mountain

until they broke out of the other side of the mountain.

Nevertheless, too often the spiritual gifts and the revelations of God

are debunked, rejected and condemned with disbelief when actually they may

prove to be the means of temporal or spiritual salvation. The eternal destiny

of man is decided by his faith or his disbelief in the workings of God.

It is when men reject the things of God that they are taken up with

deception, disbelief and perhaps influenced by the spirit of revelation from

the devil. Brigham Young explained:

I can say to all the inhabitants of the earth that before what is

called spiritualism was ever known in America, I told the people that if

they would not believe the revelations that God had given, He would

suffer the devil to give revelations that they--priests and people--would

follow after. Where did I declare this? In the cities of New York,

Albany, Boston, throughout the United States and in England. Have I seen

this fulfilled? I have. I told the people that as true as God lived, if

they would not have truth, they would have error sent unto them, and they

would believe it. (Deseret News, p. 308, June 18, 1873)

Too often men reject the spiritual messages of God in preference to

their own whims or will. Once they reject a revelation of God, they are open

to deception and are darkened in their minds.

[23] The gold and the silver will be given to the Saints; the riches of

the world will be put in their possession, and they will be legal heirs.

We are now passing through a day of trial, to determine whether we will

prove worthy of all we may enjoy and possess, for it must be enjoyed and

possessed without the spirit of covetousness. * * * The fulness of the

heavens and the earth--the mountains, the gold, and the precious things

in them--will all be devoted to those who are devoted to their God and

their religion. (Brigham Young, J.D. 8:82)

The Lord has promised untold wealth to His peopl

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