Relief Mine Chapter 8

2002-9-25 12:27:00

The Relief Mine
By Ogden Kraut
First Published 1978

Chapter 8

MEN AND MINES IN CRUCIBLES

Whatsoever is brought upon thee take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate. For gold is tried in the fire; and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity. (Ecclesiastics 2:4-5)

Men must learn to understand the opposites of nature--and those principles which prove him worthy of an eternal inheritance with God. Experiencing good and evil, pain and pleasure, sorrow and joy, is the purpose of mortality. Indeed it is in this life that men must face the conflicts, the trials, and the oppositions which test him, rendering him fit for the kingdom of heaven.

But, above and beyond the value of all mortal experience is the love of truth and the love of God. The body with all of its senses is important to man, but how much more prized should be the principles of life which mold and shape the destiny of the soul. The pathway through life, though strewn with the burden of tests and the weight of trials, is garnished with those resplendent principles which lead to eternal life and immortal glory. (Christ and the Crucifixion, O. Kraut, p. 11)

The greater a man's calling by his God, the greater in proportion will be his trials. It is only reasonable that John Koyle's mine, and all those affiliated with it, would receive their share of trials and tests. God brings about His peculiar ways which confound the wicked but save the righteous. There must be trials and tests in mortality for they separate the righteous from the wicked.

[79] (picture)

The main shaft of the Relief Mine is 3400 feet long and was carved out of the mountain without the aid of man's survey instruments. Even from the back of the tunnel, you can see daylight at the front entrance. Men, too, [80] must be guided through life by the inspiration of God, rather than the priestcrafts of men. And, as iron rails of the track lead from the dark abyss of the tunnel to the light of day, so also the Iron Rod, or the Word of God, leads men to the eternal glory of God.

When the Nephites visited Bishop Koyle, they warned him that the mine would be forced to shut down. Six months after their visit the mine was shut down, and Church leaders brought the threat of excommunication to the Bishop and all of his co-workers if they continued to labor on that mountain.

Bishop Koyle had great respect for the Church and valued his membership in it. When they ordered the mine shut down, he humbly submitted to the mandate and stopped all mining operations on the hill. He had been told by the Nephites that the powers that would close it would be the same powers to open it again. So he decided to leave it all in the hands of the Lord.

The Bishop had a little farm in Idaho 12 miles south of Burley, where he decided to go until orders came that the mine should be re-opened. For six years the mine was at a standstill. It was shut down in June 1914, and it was not until September 1920 that it was re-opened.

It was during this shutdown that President Joseph F. Smith died. Sometime later President Smith appeared to Bishop Koyle in a dream and said, "I was the one who closed the mine down, and it is my responsibility to see that it is opened up and you go to work according to the purpose and mission of the mine." But the Bishop would not re-open the mine on that premise alone, for he knew that permission must come from the current Presidency of the Church. So he would wait for that special endorsement. The Nephites predicted that it would happen that way; so the Bishop patiently waited for it to come to pass.

[81] During the shutdown, then, a new Church president came into office--Heber J. Grant. When President Grant saw an unpaid bill for nearly $2,000 against the Spanish Fork Coop, a subsidiary of the Church-owned ZCMI, he asked Thomas J. Holt, the co-op manager, to explain the loss. Holt was quick to explain that the Church had shut down the mine and therefore the operators and stockholders were unable to sell stock to pay the bill.

He asked them if opening the mine and going to work would pay their bills? They replied, "Yes." He then said, "Tell Bishop Koyle to open the mine and pay his debts," and still Bishop Koyle would not go ahead without a written statement from President Grant. This was soon given and the mine opened and paid its debts. (A Relief Mine Story, Jesse Young, p. 8)

The Church statement by President Grant allowed the re-opening of the mine, but it made a stipulation that all operations should be conducted as any other normal mining venture, exclusive of any supernatural revelations. Because of this qualification attached to the reprieve, the Bishop decided that it would be best for everyone concerned that he should stay in Idaho for awhile longer. The Lord had also made known to the bishop that another shut down was to come.

Bishop Koyle occasionally spoke of a long shut-down and also of a short shut-down that the mine must experience before final vindication. Many of us thought that the long shut-down must be the six years involved from 1914 to 1920--but history was to prove that it was all yet in the future. He saw that the miners would leave the hill--even he would not be there. The stockholders would be at bitter loggerheads with each other, and some who had been the best of friends, now would be enemies. Two of the directors would turn their backs on the mine, while the others would not be of much value to it. [82] Some of the stock would change hands for as little as ten cents a share, while others would even regard it as of no value at all. In fact, it would appear as though the whole project was at long last finished and dead, once and for all. (The Dream Mine Story, Pierce, p. 62)

The Bishop had been quoted as saying:

When I was taken through the mine for the first time in 1894, after being shown the rich body of ore beneath the "capstone", I was told that the ancient inhabitants of this land had at one time discovered these riches, having penetrated into the southwest portion of the great body of gold ore. Then the values had been closed to them and would be closed to me, providing we also became lifted up in the pride of our hearts, using the means for self-gratification. ("Statement made by Carter E. Grant, Sept. 9, 1931, to James E. Talmage", p. 10)

The messenger who took the Bishop through the mine informed him that there should be no modern machinery used in the mine until after they had gone through the capstone. The single jackhammer, the chisel and the carbide light were the only tools the workmen had to carve out a mile and a half of solid rock from the mountain.

[83] God also carves and shapes the souls of men for His work by using the oppositions of life. The Prophet Joseph Smith once said:

I am like a huge, rough stone rolling down from a high mountain; and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else, striking with accelerated force against religious bigotry, priestcraft, lawyercraft, doctorcraft, lying editors, suborned judges and jurors, and the authority of perjured executives, backed by mobs, blasphemers, licentious and corrupt men and women--all hell knocking off a corner here and a corner there. (TPJS, p. 304)

Phil Tadje was a stockholder who gained a powerful testimony of the work at the mine, but eventually he, too, lost his faith in it. Shortly after his conversion to the Gospel in his native country of Germany, he came to America and gained a powerful conviction of the truthfulness of the Dream Mine. For many years he was filled with the love and spirit of the Gospel and the mine. Then one evening at a meeting at the mine he became bitter about something that had been said or done. It bothered him all the way back to Salt Lake City and continued to disturb him until he couldn't sleep. Finally he prayed to the Lord to take away the bad spirit that he was harboring against Bishop Koyle. Suddenly a sweet but powerful spirit poured down upon him, and then the words came to him saying: "The power of God is with John H. Koyle." Phil later bore that testimony with tears pouring down his face.

But soon he again became troubled over something, and once more he turned against the Bishop and the mine. Then he attempted to persuade others against the mine. However, soon afterward his family began taking sick and started to die one by one. Finally, he too took sick, spending nearly $200 a month for medicine, until he passed [84] away also. Part of the problem was apparent pressure from Phil's brother, Fred, who at that time was in the Presiding Bishopric of the Church.

A man named Henry Armstrong, who lived in Bountiful also heard the story of the Dream Mine, so he prayed fervently to the Lord to know if it was true. After much prayer, he was taken in vision to a place of intense light and glory and beheld a glorified being who spoke to him. He was told that the mine was true and that his mission was to contribute means and money towards the completion of that work.

Henry became a very devoted advocate of the mine, and during the 1920's his share of money was one of the principle means of sustaining its operations. He also brought many faithful men into that work, and they in turn contributed labor and finances to it. Norman Pierce was personally acquainted with Henry and heard him relate many unusual and interesting testimonies concerning the mine. Norman wrote:

One of the stories Henry liked to tell me was about a neighbor of his who had an uncle who pioneered in the Lemhi country of Idaho. Before doing so he had been a scout for Brigham Young to locate possible sites for the settlements to be made south of Salt Lake. Henry's neighbor related how his uncle and a small party were exploring in the region of what is now Spanish Fork and Salem, when they were jumped by some Indians and fled to what is now called Water Canyon. There they found refuge in a tunnel large enough to ride in on horseback, for it was some ten feet in diameter. Here they withstood the Indians, but one of their number was killed, and his remains were left in the tunnel. Before they left this, uncle picked up a rock in the tunnel and noticed that it was extremely rich in gold--that it was more like rock [85] in the gold, rather than gold in the rock. This uncle would have come back later and claimed this ancient mine for himself had he not accepted a call from Brigham Young to pioneer in the Lemhi country. His nephew in the presence of Henry Armstrong, had no trouble finding the mine from the landmarks his uncle had given. But, of course, it was a little too late to claim it. The ten-foot wide tunnel was there still, although it was almost closed by a rock slide. (The Dream Mine Story, Pierce, p. 29)

Henry remained faithful to the mine all of his life. In his latter years he inquired almost daily about the condition and status of the mine.

Among those who once stood valiantly for Bishop Koyle and the mine was Carter Grant. Carter was a nephew of President Heber J. Grant, and they were closely associated with each other. When the subject of the Dream Mine came up . . .

Carter asked President Grant if he had asked the Lord and received any direction from Him by way of revelation; to which he replied, "No, I do not trouble the Lord with such foolish things." Carter said, "If you can produce a revelation from the Lord against the Dream Mine. I will go gladly along with you. As it stands now, I believe it is true and of the Lord." (A Relief Mine Story, J. Young, p. 8)

Carter was a stockholder and firm believer in the Dream Mine and later tried to convince other leading authorities of the Church.

Carter Grant freely admitted to his close associates that Apostle James E. Talmage could produce no such revelation, neither from himself nor from any of the other general authorities, [86] and when he inquired of his uncle, Heber J. Grant, if he would allow an audition for Bishop Koyle so that he could really get his story first-hand, the answer was: "If that man is brought to my office, I'll have him thrown out!" Carter Grant still held on to his stock and followed events at the mine with some interest until the death of Bishop John H. Koyle some eighteen years later. Then he lost interest and faith in the project and sold all of his stock--an event he admitted to this writer that Bishop Koyle had predicted would happen to him. (The Dream Mine Story, Pierce, p. 40)

From a financial point of view, Bishop Koyle obtained the greatest success of his lifetime while in Idaho away from the mine. It was a period of restraint from all the responsibility and tension of the mine. But all of this changed with the reopening of the mine. The Bishop chose Peter C. Carlston to be the mine superintendent and proceed with the mining operation while he was away in Idaho. But Peter Carlston was also one of many who eventually lost faith in the mission of the mine.

The Koyle Mining Company owned a total of 62 claims, which were known as the Relief Consolidation Mining Claims. These were all located in the El Dorado Mining District, but an 18 additional claims located in both Utah and Nevada were co-owned with Peter C. Carlston. One of the operations with Carlston was the Silver Banner Mine located north of Elko, Nevada. In 1926 Bishop Koyle went to Nevada where he managed the Silver Banner most of that year. It was during this time that a dispute arose between Koyle and Carlston, and resulted in Carlston severing his connections with the Koyle Mining Company. Although Carlston had been involved with Koyle and the mine for over 15 years, he took occasion to become very antagonistic. Once, while Bishop Koyle was in Idaho and Carlston was managing the Dream Mine, he received a warning of Carlston's treacheries.

[87] was sitting in the living room and heard a conversation between Peter Carlston and others. They were planning to let the claims go delinquent and then jump them and take over. Koyle got on the ball and went to Salt Lake to Peter's home and told him what was going on. Peter denied it several times. Then his wife in the kitchen spoke up and said, "Peter, stop your lying; you know you did." Then he broke down and confessed. (A Relief Mine Story, J. Young, p. 2)

This was the beginning of the breakup between Koyle and Carlston. On July 13, 1933, Carlston had become so far alienated from the mine that he wrote a letter of protest against Koyle and the mine. It began with "To whom it may concern."

In one part of the letter Carlston spoke of his adverse feelings against the Bishop by saying:

He told me, "that while he was getting out of the bath tub, the Lord revealed to him that he was displeased with the General Authorities of the Church for permitting the change in the length of the sleeves and legs of the garments and was going to chastise them." I told him I did not believe the Lord would reveal to him or anyone else anything against the leaders of the Church. But would reveal it to them direct like he did to Joseph Smith. Then he said, "I saw in the original dream concerning the mine that it was to come out as a rebuke to the Authorities of the Church because they were not doing right." This I knew to be a lie. ("Letter of Peter C. Carlston", July 13, 1933)

[88] A brief discussion on the garment change is necessary here as an evidence of the Bishop's insight of a significant and very serious event. The changes in the temple garment gradually became an extremely controversial subject. What started out as a permissible "option" that came "not as an order, nor as a rule to be rigidly enforced," soon became changed until the exact opposite was the result. The original garment was soon abandoned and forbidden to be used, while many dozens of types and styles soon became "authorized".

The first announcement by the Church of a new style change appeared in 1923. The proclamation was "permissive" with the "option" belonging to the wearer. The change was not a mandatory one, nor did it come as the result of a revelation making the change a requisite for the garment. It was intended for special occasions, such as those who desired to play sports and for certain social status women who wished to wear the more modern dress styles. The old style pattern was completed under the administration of President Brigham Young. The pattern was established by revelation. For nearly a century that style was sacred and symbolic. Any change, if such could be possible, would certainly require a revelation to revoke that former revelation.

Probably the early Christians in the first and second centuries had to contend with the same conflicts and controversies. They undoubtedly experienced disputes over what was unchangeable and what was acceptable. We certainly know that liberalism soon overcame the orthodox conservative stand, and the result was the loss of spiritual gifts and favor with God.

However, most Latter-day Saints are shocked at the very thought that all is not well in Zion. Because the Church is prospering, enjoying peace, and has favor with the world, most members feel that everything is "progressing". Modern changes are approved to keep everything that way.

[89] If even the Prophet Joseph Smith was warned of being influenced by other men, then certainly any subsequent leaders would also be fallible enough to fall victim to the same frailty. Bishop Koyle was also warned that he, too, should beware of aspiring to any honors or favors among men.

In another dream the Bishop saw himself and wife sitting in the front room when an angel came with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. This angel tried to pin the flowers on the Bishop, but he refused to permit it. Several times this was repeated with the same results. Then the angel said, "Now that is the proper attitude; never allow anyone to praise and flatter you with the honor of men." (A Relief Mine Story, J. Young, p. 8)

Such favors and honors lead to blind faith. Disaster is often the final result. Men who trust their own opinions and feelings too much, fail to be guided by the spirit of the Lord.

Many times little failings may cause great men to fall. Often it is the small tests--like little termites--that can fell the strong and the mighty. When a sacrifice is too great, then justification and excuses will cause him to deviate from the once straight and narrow path. Whenever a man harbors or entertains an influence for wealth, fashion, honors or peace among men, they can easily fail in a test by the Almighty.

We live in a time of testing--for leaders and layman alike. We may be living at the frightful time spoken of by Heber C. Kimball when he warned the members that just such a test was to come. He prophesied:

. . . the time is coming when we will be mixed up in these now peaceful valleys to the extent that it will be difficult to tell the face of a [90] saint from the face of an enemy against the people of God. Then is the time to look out for the great sieve, for there will be a great sifting time, and many will fall. For I say unto you, there is a test, a Test, a TEST coming. (Life of J. Golden Kimball, J. Claude Richards, p. 364)

In our time and generation, we feel to share the same sentiments as the Prophet Joseph Smith who once said:

And now, beloved brethren, we say unto you, that inasmuch as God hath said that He would have a tried people, that He would purge them as gold, now we think this time He has chosen His own crucible, wherein we have been tried; and we think if we get through with any degree of safety, and shall have kept the faith, that it will be a sign to this generation, altogether sufficient to leave them without excuse. . . . (TPJS, pp. 135-136)

Life is meant to be a proving ground. Indeed, it is a battlefield where men may prove themselves triumphant. For without a battle, there is no victory--and without that attainment, there is no reward. Very few shall pass the final tests and trials of the last days, for God shall "punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity," but He shall make those few valiant men "more precious than fine gold." (Isa. 13:11-12)


You can buy Ogden's books by going to: http://www.ogdenkraut.com/orderogdenbooks.html