Typescript of Amasa Lyman's journal, identified as Journal #16, with entries spanning the years from 1857-1863. The first part describes Lyman's travels from April 18, 1857, to July 2, 1857, along the California Road and Indian Trail from the Rio Virgin. It continues with his participation in an exploratory party that traveled south from Cedar City, Utah, to Las Vegas, the Vegas Fort, and the Mojave Desert from January-May 1858, and also charts its return to Salt Lake City. References are made to Hyatt's war with the Apaches and Lyman's encounters with an Indian chief he calls Oat-sen-a-wantz. The final section of the diary, kept from December 1862 to April 1863, describes Lyman's daily life near Farmington, Utah, including his attendance of the local theatre, a listing of the books he was reading, and his encounters with John Taylor. Includes a description of the original diary. On the fly page in front of the book is written: "Presented by Wm. Hooper, G.S.L. City, 1956". The Huntington also has a photocopy of the journal (FAC 1670). The content of the microfilm and photocopy is identical, however there are some variations in punctuation, format, and pagination. All inquiries about this item should be directed to the H. Russell Smith Foundation Curator of Western Historical Manuscripts at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Microfilm. San Marino, Calif. : Huntington Library Photographic Dept., 1945. 1 microfilm reel : negative 35 mm. Forms part of the Manuscripts Department's Mormon file, c.1805-1995. Amasa Mason Lyman was born on March 30, 1813, in Grafton County, New Hampshire. He was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Orson Pratt and Lyman E. Johnson in 1832. Soon after his baptism, Lyman traveled to Palmyra, New York, in search of Joseph Smith, who had already moved to Ohio. Lyman worked on a farm near Buffalo to raise the money to travel westward, and in August 1832 he arrived in Ohio and met Smith, who sent Lyman on a mission through the eastern United States. In 1835 he was selected for the First Quorum of the Seventy and received the "Kirtland Endowment" in 1836. In 1839 Lyman and his wife Maria Louisa Tanner (Lyman eventually married eight plural wives) followed Mormon leaders to Nauvoo, Illinois, and in 1842 was briefly made a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He also served as a councilor to the First Presidency. Following the death of Joseph Smith, Lyman became a supporter of Brigham Young, reentered the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and moved with his wives to Salt Lake City. In 1862 Lyman became a president of the Mormon Church's European Mission. He was eventually excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1870 based on a heretical speech he made in Scotland in 1862. Lyman died in Fillmore, Utah, on February 4, 1877. He was posthumously reinstated into the LDS Church in 1909.
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