THROUGH OTHERS’ EYES
THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD’S HOUSE SHALL BE
ESTABLISHED IN THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAINS AND ALL
NATIONS SHALL FLOW UNTO IT.
For brass
I will bring gold,
and for iron
I will bring silver.
(Isaiah 60:17)
June 1998
[5] PREFACE
One of the most interesting mining episodes in American history is the story of the Koyle Mining Company. It holds the dubious record for operating the longest time without ever producing any ore. It recently passed its hundredth anniversary (September 1894), and the hopeful promoters and stock-holders are in greater numbers today than ever before. But even stranger than this was the fact that no mine or its manager ever had so many unique and incredible stories connected with them. Yet the man himself, John H. Koyle, never wrote even a paragraph to the public about himself or his mine!
Bishop Koyle has been dead for nearly 50 years (May 17, 1949). Only a few people who knew him personally are still alive. A new generation are now the stockholders, yet they have had little exposure to the stories, testimonies and personal visits to the mine. Nearly all of the original stock that was bought is now in the hands of someone else, i.e., those who inherited it and know very little about the mine. Because of this phenomenon, this book has been compiled including stories, articles, publications, newspaper clippings, etc., pertaining to the events and personal accounts of those who knew this remarkable man.
Most of the following accounts were written by people who were fascinated with the Dream Mine story. Some of these authors knew Bishop Koyle personally, some met him only once or twice, and some never knew him.
Through the years many stories have been told about the mine that have been misquoted, exaggerated, or are just plain untrue. Thus, this book is compiled with the hope that some of these events might be clarified and better understood.
[7] Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION:
The Purpose of Wealth
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)
Is it right or wrong to seek for temporal wealth? Perhaps the answer lies within one’s purpose of attaining it. The scriptures are abundant with reasons for getting and not getting riches, such as–
Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good–to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted. (Jacob 2:17-19)
A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. (Ps. 37:16)
He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: . . . (Prov. 11:28)
Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right. (Prov. 16:8)
[8]Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. (Prov. 23:4-5)
Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. (Prov. 30:8-9)
He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase. (Ecc. 5:10)
There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. (Ecc. 5:13)
Beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. * * *
And he [the rich man] said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12: 15, 18-21)
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matt. 6:19-21)
He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and [9] the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word and he becometh unfruitful. (Matt. 13:22)
He is proud, . . . supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. * * * Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. (1 Tim. 6:4-8, 17)
Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? (Jas. 2:6-7)
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. (Jas. 5:1)
But whoso hath his world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? (I John 3:17)
Very few times in the history of this world has everyone in a community shared their wealth. A great gap always exists between the poor and the rich, as Jesus said, “Ye have the poor always with you. . . .” (Matt. 26:11)
The problem is two-fold: the poor are envious of the rich, and the rich love their wealth so much that they won’t share it. A good example is when a young man came to Jesus asking for eternal life. Jesus told him to “go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor. . . but when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful. . . .” (Matt. 19:21-22) It was after this experience that Jesus replied, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matt. 19:24) This does not mean that all [10] rich men will go to hell; neither does it mean that all poor people will go to heaven. The difficulty is finding a charitable rich man.
Some say that wealth can be good or bad. But wealth has nothing to do with being good or bad–it’s how it is used and how people are influenced by it. Paul the Apostle said “the LOVE of money is the root of all evil.” (1 Tim. 6:10); and he then added “which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith.” In other words, they were probably good until covetousness entered into their hearts. Obviously people can be poor or wealthy and still be good or bad.
Wealth provides a person with a chance to do more good than he could if he were poor. But most men have a tendency to seek temporal wealth only to aggrandize themselves as the final objective. The Prophet Joseph Smith explained to Oliver B. Huntington the correct view regarding the obtaining of riches:
During the life time of Joseph Smith someone asked him how it was that some men have no trouble to make money; and other men can get nothing ahead, work as they will. Some unforeseen event takes it as fast as they get more than they need for immediate use.
He said that the one who was favoured in this life with riches seemingly poured into his lap, would have a debt to settle in the next life; the other man, who could get nothing ahead in this life would find a large credit standing in his favor in the next world.
I heard Joseph Smith say something like this, “Some people say that it is not right to seek to aggrandize one’s own self, that self-aggrandizement is not a good principle; but it can be done permanently, justly and righteously in only one way or upon only one plan in order to be eternal in its durability. If any person will build up others, and permanently aggrandize others, he is turn will be aggrandized eternally; [11] that is the only principle or plan upon which it can be done and remain forever.” (Oliver B. Huntington Journal, p. 19)
Riches seem to be the god of this world–and a very powerful one, too. They have power to do either good or evil, and more often than not they have the power to lead men to forget the true God of heaven and earth.
The purpose and intent of the Relief Mine is to ultimately do good–to help the poor in a time of financial crisis and to help build up the Kingdom of God. The following stories help to emphasize such righteous intent.
[12] Chapter 2
TIME AND THE DREAM MINE
by Samuel W. Taylor
Samuel W. Taylor, son of John W. Taylor and grandson of John Taylor, was a long-time and valued friend of the compiler. He passed away on September 26, 1997, while this book was being compiled, and his personal association and witty correspondence will be greatly missed.
Sam was a very prolific writer, approaching a variety of subjects in a most interesting and sometimes defending manner. One of his fascinating and informative articles was written about John Koyle and his Dream Mine and was published in Esquire magazine. It is included in this chapter, preceded by a letter he wrote to me explaining how he came to write this story.
Dear Ogden,Nov. 22, 1993
I was surprised to find that I had a copy of “Time and the Dream Mine,” because I was in England as an Air Force correspondent at the time Esquire published the story. Maybe my brother Raymond saved the magazine for me, I dunno.
How I came to write it, during basic training at Ft. Lewis, Washington–I was selected, along with about 20 GI’s from other outfits, to attend the ASTP Officer Training Program at University of Utah. The ASTP program was a big operation. The entire field-house was filled with double-decked bunks, and there was a hundred washbowls along the south wall. When we arrived, however, the entire operation had been scrubbed, so it was ten days of close-order drill, then [13] back to our outfits. While still in Salt Lake, Raymond drove up to say hello, and he told me the story of the Dream Mine. I got an overnight pass and I went back with him, and that evening interviewed John Koyle. He was anything but impressive, stooped from hard labor, a scraggly mustache, rough work clothes. But when he began talking–wow! The guy could talk a bird out of a tree. After the interview, I sat up all night at Raymond’s home and wrote the story. He took me back in time in the morning.
When Esquire published the story, Raymond wrote that the Church hailed it as the best thing ever done to prove that John Koyle was a complete phony, while the Dreamers hailed it as the best thing ever written to prove he was guided as a true prophet. That’s a hard trick to pull off, and I guess I’ve never done it again.
Selah,
S.T.
Time and the Dream Mine
by Samuel W. Taylor
For half a century John Koyle, the prophet,
has somehow persuaded sanguine stockholders
that the bonanza is just around the corner.
On the 17th of September, 1894, a party of six men climbed the face of a mountain east of Spanish Fork, Utah. The leader, John Koyle, selected a spot he had seen in a dream, and they started to dig. They did not find paying ore.
Today, almost fifty years later, the Dream Mine is still in operation. Koyle has blasted tunnels and shafts totaling almost a mile and a half into the rock of the mountain. A 60,000-dollar flotation mill of gleaming white concrete has been erected. No paying ore has been produced. According to impartial assays, the ore has been practically worthless. But operations continue.
[14]Yet this is no rich man’s folly. John Koyle started digging a poor man; he is still a poor man. The mine has been financed entirely by hard-headed stockholders, who number today around five thousand, scattered over the entire United States. The stockholders are not at all perturbed by the lack of the usual incentives for investment. On the contrary, they are filled with an almost rabid enthusiasm. True, an occasional disgruntled Dreamer, as Dream Mine stockholders are termed, may unload his holdings for from two to four bits a share. But the purchaser of such stock will not be a dyed-in-the-wool Dreamer. Such a one wouldn’t dream of buying stock except from Koyle himself at the unvarying par value of a dollar and a half per share. Inasmuch as the mine’s only source of income is from the sale of new stock, it obviously would not help the cause to buy resold stock at however much of a bargain.
The story of the Dream Mine is a good one, and it’s too bad it can’t be told, yet. It can be, perhaps, in a few weeks. Big things are supposed to be breaking, but the time apparently hasn’t arrived to reveal them. Scoffers say big things have been breaking with clocklike regularity for forty-nine years; but John Koyle avers that this time every problem is licked and every obstacle overcome. Another boom is on.
The Dream Mine does produce a certain ore. Scoffers say it is worthless. Dreamers say it is practically priceless. On the face of it, it would seem the thing could be settled once and for all by an impartial assay. Indeed, such assays have been made and according to them the ore is without value. This does not in the slightest deter Koyle and his Dreamers, nor dampen their enthusiasm. Koyle simply claims, and his Dreamers believe, that this ore is unusual and that all the metals are burned out of it by ordinary methods of assay.
John Koyle is now seventy-nine years old, stooped from a lifetime of hard work. He lives at the base of the mountain in a [15] modest white frame house set amid the scrub oak and sagebrush just below the magnificent mill that is a monument to his life’s dream. He wears a faded blue shirt, dungarees supported by wide suspenders and worn farm shoes. His eyes are dimming now, but his hair, except for a scraggly mustache, is just beginning to gray. His face is curiously unlined. He sits in a rocking chair and talks in a low voice of crops, the labor situation, the war, people in the vicinity. He won’t talk about the Dream Mine. Not yet. Nor for a few weeks. People have doubted him too long. He’s determined to show’em this time.
Yes, he started it back in `94. And some people still doubt he’s got the paying ore. He smiles slightly, and there is a change. His voice remains soft but his eyes are no longer dim. His face is serene, no single line of doubt having formed in forty-nine years. The ore’s there. Pure tungsten is making a filigree on the face of the vein, he says. You can pick it off with your fingers. From time to time enthusiasm has reached a fever pitch among Dreamers as new metals were reported as found in the ore. Today, Koyle states, there are thirty-three metals in it, including gold, silver, platinum and lead in breath-taking quantities. Scoffers hint that when Koyle needs money he “discovers” a new metal in the ore. Koyle explains that the big trouble is that his ore is too rich. All thirty-three metals have different melting points. Under ordinary smelting methods, he says, you’d lose most of them–they’d vaporize and go up the chimney. But he’s got that licked. Never mind how. Just wait a few weeks. Then he’ll have something to tell. He won’t talk right now.
But hasn’t it been difficult to keep going all this while? Koyle smiles. Yes, he’s had a fight of it. But, says he, they’ll all come around begging to buy stock too late, when there won’t be any to sell. He knows what’ll happen. He saw it all from the beginning.
[16]A dream? Well, you can call it that, though in Utah people use another term. In Utah some people call it divine inspiration, and it is a matter of record that some extra-ordinarily rich mines have been discovered by this method.
Koyle states simply and without elaboration that he went completely through the mine and explored the ore vein before the first pick was laid to the mountainside in 1894. He had been digging awhile, following the strata in a slope towards the east, when a geologist came for a look. “You’ll never find anything on an east slope,” the geologist said.
Koyle just smiled and kept on digging. Presently, just as he had predicted, the slope switched to the west. Here his troubles began. Certain ones of the original party wanted to follow the slope straight back towards the west. Koyle knew he should go diagonally. There was an argument, and he closed down the mine. Two years later, after handsome and humble apologies had been tendered several times, he continued the tunnel, diagonally. Koyle is a patient man. Since that time, there has been no question about who is boss.
Meanwhile, the geologist was pestering again. He was concerned with what he termed the plight of innocent investors. He pointed out that there was no iron, no slate and no igneous rock, all of which should have been present. Koyle roamed the mountainside and found a huge slate bed. He found several acres of outcropping igneous rock. In the mine he pointed out a vein of iron.
“That’s the wrong color for iron,” the geologist said. Koyle shrugged and tested a random sample. “It assayed 50 per cent iron. It was the wrong color because it was burned,” he explains simply. “That means there was a fire in the earth. And that means there’s metals. The iron is the mother and the [17] igneous rock is the father and the offspring is my ore.” He doesn’t know what part the slate plays. He’ll leave that to the geologists.
So they tried to stop him. Koyle was hauled into court. Arrayed as witnesses against him were a dozen and a half stockholders smarting as only men can who feel they’ve been fleeced. They had the sucker’s rabid desire for revenge. With such witnesses, Koyle was doomed. He remained unperturbed.
“When the witnesses got on the stand, they changed their minds,” he says. “Instead of testifying against me, they began whooping it up for the Dream Mine. Case was dismissed. Knowed it would be from the start.”
He accepts this incident as a matter of course. He just knows he can’t be licked. What caused the witnesses to have their faith restored–his presence? There is no outward sign in the stooped figure in his faded work clothes to hint at his uncanny power to sway men.
He is as mild as he is soft-spoken. He can listen as well as talk. He doesn’t orate; he doesn’t rant. He doesn’t force his opinions on anyone. Yet he has kept the unshaken faith of thousands of Dreamers for forty-nine years. He has had both Church and State arrayed against him. At one time, seventeen deputy marshals were hunting him. Yet he is still going strong, and, right now, he says, the Dream Mine is on the brink of the biggest boom of all.
They did stop him once, back around 1914. For six years the Dream Mine was idle. No lines grew on Koyle’s face. He knew things would straighten out, and they did, at least to his own satisfaction. When they did he renewed operations.
[18]When he needed money, he simply sold stock. Things were a bit tough at times. But about the time stockholders began wondering about dividends or muttering about court action, Koyle would somehow manage to “find” a new metal in the ore or run into a sign–a blaze, as it were, to show he was on the right trail. For instance, a hog’s back in the rock formation of the tunnel. He had predicted it would be there, and it was. Again, a map of North America was revealed in a strategic spot. There was a right turn to the vein as predicted. Faults made perfect north and south walls to the tunnel for a hundred yards or so–just as he’d said they would! John Koyle knew where he was going.
At the proper time Koyle had started a tunnel straight into the mountainside some distance below the original diggings. A ditch had to be made as they went along to carry off the water. What water? –never mind, there’d be water. The workers grumbled about the ditch. It was a nuisance to make, and anybody knew there was no water in the mountain. No sign of water. They went 2,000 feet with no water. Koyle calmly ordered the ditch built foot by foot as the tunnel progressed. At 2,400 feet the water appeared and filled the ditch. Clear, pure, icy water, a priceless thing in the desert.
Koyle was his own surveyor on this tunnel. He got back a way onto a ridge and, clinging to a bush with one hand, sighted with his naked eye, to get the thing started. Once going, he just went ahead without sighting. The tunnel is 3,400 feet long, and at the back end you can see daylight from the front. Pretty fair job, Koyle admits.
The geologist who had influence in the state continued his opposition. Koyle, however, always knew what was going to happen. He was always one jump ahead. This baffled the geologist, who had no inkling that his secretary happened to be a Dreamer.
[19]The state denied Koyle a license to sell stock. That should have stopped him cold. The sale of stock was his only source of income for operations. Koyle called in his board of directors and told them what to do. Koyle never has asked his directors to direct. “They don’t generally interfere,” he explains. So he told them, “Issue me some stock. Fifty thousand shares of special stock.” This was in his own name, his personal stock, and there was no law against a man selling his own stock. The Dream Mine continued operations.
Koyle is a man given to predictions, and the number of things he has predicted that came to pass is astounding. One of his more outlandish predictions came years ago when, pointing across the sagebrush desert to a desolate spot, he said, “There’ll be a big manufacturing plant right there someday.” The place is isolated, on rocky ground above the irrigation level, far from human habitation. Too, the valley had hundreds of better sites. Came the war, and today a powder mill stands on the spot. Isolation is a prime requisite for a powder mill, and the location is ideal.
Another prediction had to do with the geologist who continued to do his utmost to close down the Dream Mine. He wrote articles against it for the state press and made speeches. He had a high position and Koyle had none. Koyle’s infinite patience became exhausted.
“The day will come,” he declared to his stockholders and anyone else within earshot, “when that man will come to me and ask forgiveness.”
A short time later the geologist died. Koyle admits that even the most faithful Dreamer sort of doubted him for a spell. They kind of wondered. But he didn’t say anything. Didn’t try to explain. Didn’t try to worm out of it. He just bided his time, [20] and sure enough, Koyle allows, the geologist appeared to him one night in spirit form. Apparently the man had gone just so far on the other wise and couldn’t get any further without asking forgiveness from John Koyle.
“Sure, I forgave him,” Koyle says. “I didn’t want to cause him no trouble over there.” And he adds, matter-of-factly, “Seems to me they’re more square on the other side. He didn’t ask my forgiveness until he got there.”
Came the Depression. Remember? Nobody had a nickel. Nobody would invest. Mining was particularly hard hit. World famous mines in the district were closing down or on the verge of it. Mining stock could hardly be given away. Things looked black for the Dream Mine. For seven weeks Koyle couldn’t meet the payroll. Dreamers wanted returns. They wanted cash instead of promises. Koyle explained there was plenty of ore, but it was this special ore, with all these metals mixed up in it. You heat it and a black smoke comes off, all those metals burning up. There was no plant in existence that could handle it.
“We’ve got to build our own plant,” Koyle told his directors. They threw up their hands in horror. Koyle saw it was no use talking with them. “I was afraid to tell’em,” he admits. So without a word he started the flotation mill on his own hook.
This was in July, 1932, at the very bottom of the Depression. In November the mill was complete, and the 40,000 dollars it had cost was paid off in cash. Twenty thousand dollars’ worth of machinery was installed. How? Koyle smiles placidly. He isn’t talking now. Not yet, says he. It’s not the time.
He built the mill in typical Koyle fashion. When construction was under way and things were too far along to [21] recall, the directors demanded an architect. The builder refused to do another tap without blueprints. “I didn’t need no blueprints,” Koyle says. “I knowed what I wanted.”
But he did compromise. He hired an architect. The builder, meanwhile, agreed to go on while awaiting finished specifications. “By the time the first section was done, the architect came around with the blueprints for it,” Koyle says, grinning. He, meanwhile, had started on the next section, and the architect hastened to catch up. How much influence the architect actually had might be impossible to say, but the finished mill is truly magnificent. It looks like no other flotation mill in the world. Gleaning white, with modernistic horizontal window lines, it appears to be an apartment house, a rich man’s castle or a skyscraper built against the mountain. Koyle is justly proud of it.
However, there was a minor flaw in the mill. It couldn’t process the ore.
Disappointment? There’s a time for all things, Koyle avers placidly. He is not to be rushed. Certain other ore had to be found to mix with the original ore, to make it workable. Too, the mine is not merely a mine. It is a means of saving Utah in time of famine, and is sometimes called the Relief Mine. When the time comes, it will produce wealth to buy large stores of essential foods and supplies. And they–the ones who’ve been against him all these forty-nine years–they’ll be saved along with the rest. The very leaders of the opposition will be in dire straits. The world will be against them. They’ll need help badly. And Koyle confidently asserts that he will be the man to lend a hand. When the time comes.
When, if ever, the promised time comes, a Dreamer will be independent on one hundred shares of stock. It’s not much [22] of an investment for lifetime security–150 dollars. Of course, some Dreamers would like more than security, and they invest in a few extra shares. Some have their life’s savings tied up in it. It is not uncommon for a Dreamer to make an occasional outright donation for the cause.
It is a cause. To utter the words “Dream Mine” in any local gathering is to split the group immediately into two factions, for and against. You either believe or you don’t. And the Dream Mine is more than a local affair. In traveling in any of the intermountain states, if a man lets it be known he’s from Spanish Fork, he’ll be asked about the Dream Mine. Or he can occasionally run into the same question in Los Angeles or New York. And all the Dreamers know is that the time is near. They meet each Thursday night at Koyle’s house set below the stucco mill and listen to their leader. They leave burning with enthusiasm. Koyle, to them, is a great leader. For forty-nine years he has made people believe in him and his dream. Few prophets have held disciples that long. While being denounced by the highest ranking officials of the territory, he has continued to operate his mine on the hard-earned cash of the faithful. The number of Dreamers grows with the years. Each season sees new Dreamers added to the fold. Each disappointment adds new converts. Each delay and unexpected expense is cause for a boom. The Dreamers are impatient to provide what is necessary to hasten the great day.
And the time now is near. That it has been near week by week, for almost half a century, has no bearing on the case. This time it’s the real thing. The very last obstacle has been overcome, right now. This very week.
Koyle sits in his rocker, a slight old gentleman of seventy-nine. He sits there in his working clothes and rocks tranquilly. He’s sorry; he can’t talk. He’s just sort of rambled [23] tonight, jumping around purposely so you wouldn’t get the story. But pretty soon he’ll be ready to talk. Right away. Big things are now in the offing. The time is very short.
“But don’t mention this latest development,” he says with a calm assurance that has won him many followers. “It’s a sure thing this time, but they’ve been against me too long. I don’t want to say a word until the right time.”
And then he shakes your hand good night, and his eyes are dim again. The story of the Dream Mine will be a good one, when John Koyle gets ready to tell it. (Esquire, May 1944, beginning with p. 101)
* * * * *
* * *
*
[24] Chapter 3
THE STORY OF THE DREAM MINE
by C. F. Weight
The next story of the mine, by C. F. Weight, has been passed around for many years and is one of the most accurate and detailed accounts of the physical description and workings of the mine and the historical events surrounding it.
The Story of the Dream Mine
by C. F. Weight
The first time I ever heard of the dream mine it was told to me by Andrew Pierce who lived on the same block as I in Springville, Utah. I was very much interested in what he told me, as he pointed out the place on the mountain where the Dream Mine is, as I had been shown a rich gold mine in that very mountain while I was on a mission in the Southern States a few years previously.
I talked this information over with my brothers, and we arranged to go see Brother John H. Koyle, the founder of the mine, who lived in the Leland Ward about two miles west of Spanish Fork. Upon our arrival at Spanish Fork, we learned that Brother Koyle was up at the mine, so we went up to the mine, which is located about three miles east of Salem, Utah. We were traveling in a double seated buggy.
We arrived at the mine in the middle of the afternoon in the fall of about the year 1909. We climbed to the top of Knob Hill which extends about half way to the top of the mountain [25] and went down the ladder into the mine to the Number 7 Station. At the Number 1 Station, which is 250 feet inside the mountain, we saw William Pierce turning the hand blower pumping air down into the mine. There were about seven or eight more visitors at the Number 7 Station. Brother Koyle and Frank Woodward were working about 12 feet below us. They were hunting for the leader which was to guide them down the Number 7 Run which was to be over one hundred feet straight down. I could tell which of the two was Brother Koyle, although I had never seen either of them before; and no one indicated which man was he.
We watched them work about a half hour until the shift was over; then we were introduced to them. We all came up out of the mine, and we went down the mountain and got into our buggy for the homeward journey.
During the four miles we traveled to the place where Brother Koyle turned off to go to Leland, he told us many great and marvelous things pertaining to the mine. We made arrangements to go another day and visit Brother Koyle at his home, when he told us the story of the mine. The story, as nearly as I can remember it, is as follows:
Brother Koyle said when he was a young man, the brethren in the Church used to preach about getting a testimony of the Gospel. At this time he was married, and had one or two children; and on one occasion when the brethren were preaching about getting a testimony of the Gospel, he turned to his wife and said, “Em, I don’t believe a word of it!” He went on to say that he had prayed many times for a testimony of the Gospel and said that he never had got one.
Just at that moment the speaker said, “Now if you do not get a testimony of the Gospel when you pray for it, it is [26] because you have not repented and made all things right between you and your brethren and the Lord.” Brother Koyle said to his wife, “Oh, that is different. I have never heard them preach it that way before.” He said he determined within his mind that a few disagreeable things that existed between him and a few of his friends must be settled and straightened out.
He went and saw all of these friends and settled all their differences. That night he went out into the willows to pray for a testimony of the Gospel and told the Lord that he had straightened up all of his differences and asked to be forgiven by the Lord also. He prayed long and earnestly for a testimony of the Gospel.
Brother Koyle’s words were very plain and simple, as his father had been killed in a rock quarry when he was nine years of age; and he had had little opportunity for school privileges.
After finishing his prayer, he got up off his knees and said he didn’t feel a bit different than when he started to pray. He went into the house somewhat disappointed.
In those days Brother Koyle had a few cattle on his farm, one of which (a red heifer) he had not been able to find. He had hunted the fields for some three weeks without finding his red heifer and had given up hope of finding her, thinking that she was stolen or dead. That night he had a dream. In this dream he saw his red heifer in a field down below the Union Pacific Railroad track. The heifer was standing in Willie Wood’s field facing east. One horn was knocked down and was interfering with her eye causing the eye to run.
He was shown that he was to go down the next morning, and just after the passenger train came by, he was to cross over the track and go into the field and there he would find the [27] heifer as he had been shown in the dream. In the dream it was said to him, “Will this be a testimony unto you that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true?” He answered, “Yes.” This finishes the dream.
The next morning he told his wife the dream and said, “Em, I’m going down there and get my heifer; I know she is there for I saw her.” His wife laughed at him, as she didn’t have much confidence in his dream. She said, “John, you’ve hunted those fields over and over and if your heifer had been there, you would have found her.” But John said, “I’m going down there and get her.”
He saddled his horse and waited a little while so that he would get down to the track about 10:00 o’clock when the train passed by. He went out into the field, and there was his heifer exactly as he had been shown. He went all the way around the heifer while she stood there, saw the brand, and marveled at the wonderful circumstances. He drove the heifer out of the field and started up the road toward home. The heifer did not try to go into any other field or on any other road, but went right along nicely all the way home.
While he was on the way home behind the heifer, he prayed to the Lord with much joy and thanksgiving in his heart and made a covenant with the Lord that if the Lord would give him dreams and visions from time to time to help him on his way, he would serve the Lord all the days of his life.
Some time after this while he was plowing in his field, a voice spoke to him saying, “Would you go on a mission if you were called?” Brother Koyle spoke right out loud and said, “Yes.” He stopped his team in the middle of the field and looked to see who had spoken to him, and there was not a soul visible in that whole ten-acre field. This was very [28] remarkable, and when he had driven to the place nearest his house, he tied up his team and went into the house and said to his wife, “Em, I’m going on a mission.” As she turned and looked at him, she said, “Why, John, how can you go on a mission? You haven’t got a dollar to your name.” He said, “I know it, but I’m going anyway. I just promised I’d go.”
He then related the incident of hearing the voice speak to him. Some few weeks after this, some members of the Bishopric came to see him about going on a mission. When they asked him if he would go on a mission, they were greatly astonished at his unhesitating answer: “Yes.” They said, “We didn’t think you were able to go on a mission, but we felt constrained to come and see you about it.”
They sent his name to the Church, and about three weeks later, he got a call from “Box B,” which was the Church’s mailing address. The call said, if you accept this call to go on a mission, be ready in about three weeks to go to the Southern States Mission. He told his wife to answer the letter and tell the Church Authorities that he would be ready to go. She refused to answer it because she didn’t see how it was possible for him to go. His sister was there at the time visiting, and she said, “I’ll answer it, John;” and he said, “All right, `Lect,'” and she did so.
Brother Koyle tried every way during that three weeks to get means to go on his mission. Three days before the time expired he did not have a dollar. At this time it was manifested to him that he could butcher two of his steers and obtain some money in that manner by selling them by the quarter. It was also manifested to him that some of the Icelanders who lived at Spanish Fork whom he had befriended against the slurs and jeers of other men, would buy a quarter of beef each.
[29]He butchered a beef and took it uptown and sold all four quarters to these Icelanders and got orders for four more quarters from others of the group. They were glad to buy from him because he had befriended them in time of need and also to help him on his mission. Thus he was prepared the very last day to get to his mission field, leaving his family of two or three very small children in the hands of the Lord to get along the best they could.
He arrived at the Southern States Mission, which was presided over at that time by J. Golden Kimball. While in the mission field, Elder Koyle had some very remarkable dreams and manifestations.
On one occasion while staying at the home of a good friend (who had not yet joined the Church) of the elders, he had a remarkable dream. He was shown two elders staying that night at a home a few miles distance. He saw that a mob gathered to mob the elders. The elders fled from this home in the darkness of the night and made their way to the home of another friend. The mob followed and chased them out of that home throwing rocks and such things as they had at the elders as they ran. They knocked the hat off one of the elders, which he did not recover, and hit one of them on the ear with a rock, which made it bleed very freely. He saw the elders flee toward the place where he and his companion were sleeping. He saw them come to the house all excited and nearly given out and shout, “Get up; the mob is coming; get up and flee for your lives.”
He saw that they were not to go away from that home. They were to stay regardless of the mob. He saw the mob composed of two or three hundred gather and surround the house. They did not burst into the house or cause any trouble, and he saw himself and his companion get up and go [30] downstairs (they were sleeping in the attic), and the man of the house fortified with his gun declared that the mob would not take the elders unless it was over his dead body. As they did not make any special attempt to disturb Elder Koyle, he saw that he went outdoors in his shirt sleeves to see what was going on. It appeared as though the mob was divided as some of the men did not think that they should commit murder. While they were discussing their plan of procedure, he saw a woman stop out in front of the mob. This woman commenced to tell the mob of their wicked devilish intentions. She told them of their wickedness and asked them to disperse and leave the elders alone, referring to the judgments that would come on them for such sin. This seemed to cause a greater division among them, and soon they commenced to slink away, until finally they all left without any disturbance.
No sooner had the dream finished than they were awakened by these two elders who came shouting, “Get up; the mob is coming!” In a moment Elder Koyle’s companion jumped out of bed and was dressed in a very short time, and he all the time was saying to Elder Koyle, “Hurry up! Hurry up, or we’ll be mobbed!” Elder Koyle threw his feet out of bed and sat on the edge of the bed very little concerned and in no hurry at all. He said, “Hold on a minute–now here, I want to tell you something.”
By this time the other Elders had come into the house and were wondering why they didn’t get up and run for their lives. Elder Koyle related this dream to them which they acknowledged in detail. Then he said, “Now if all of that has happened exactly as I saw it and have told you, then the rest will happen.”
By this time the mob was surrounding the house. Elder Koyle dressed and went downstairs, and sure enough, there [31] was the mob. After waiting a few minutes, Elder Koyle went outside bareheaded and in his shirt sleeves and saw and heard the very things that were shown to him in his dream–even to the woman that gave those men a talking to that they had never had before–in his words, “She sure did lay down the law to them.”
On another occasion there was a conference appointed by President Kimball, and the Saints gathered to attend this conference. Elder Koyle had a dream the night before wherein he saw a mob gather with the intention of getting President Kimball. The plan was to get him for no good purpose, but they did not intend to mob the others. Elder Koyle saw that it would be the right thing for President Kimball not to appear at that meeting and that the mob would be disappointed and not do anything further because their plans would be frustrated.
Elder Koyle saw that the mob came and looked in at the windows and looked all around to find that “long, lean, red-headed” President Kimball, for that was the way they spoke of him. When they were not able to find him, they went away. Elder Koyle told President Kimball this dream and suggested that he make himself scarce during that meeting, which he did. The mob came during the meeting, but was greatly disappointed that they were not able to find President Kimball. They looked in at the door and the windows and all around the building, but couldn’t find him and then went their way.
President Kimball had probably heard of other instances concerning Elder Koyle’s dreams and decided it would be wise to take notice.
There were a number of other instances similar to these which happened in the mission field. His life and the lives of others were undoubtedly preserved through his divine dreams [32] and manifestations. Suffice it to say, that Elder Koyle fulfilled a very good and important mission.
While in the mission field, he received a letter from his wife stating that the Rio Grande Railroad was surveying land right through the middle of his farm which would practically ruin most of his farm. Elder Koyle was much concerned about this. He made it a matter of prayer and asked the Lord to cause them to change their survey. He had a dream wherein he saw that the surveyors would change the survey and cut across the corner of his farm cutting off about two acres of his farm. In the dream it was said to him, “You are no better to have the railroad go through your farm than to go through your neighbor’s farms,” but this change would not injure him so severely.
He immediately wrote a letter to his wife telling her of the dream stating that they would change their survey and that it would cut off the northwest corner of his farm.
At that time the surveyors had already made a new survey placing their railroad line exactly where Elder Koyle saw it would go. Before Elder Koyle’s letter reached his wife, she had already written to him stating that they had changed their survey and had cut off about two acres of the northwest corner of his farm. Each letter passed the other in transit. Elder Koyle rejoiced that they had changed their survey as shown to him, as he said it would have hurt him worse than any other farm on the line.
This mission in connection with other experiences given to him prepared him to be chosen of the Lord to perform another mission–that which pertained to temporal affairs.
It was on the night of Sept. 3, 1894, that a messenger came to him in a dream telling him of a rich gold mine that [33] was in the mountain directly east of Salem, Utah. The messenger told him the purpose of the mine would be to bring relief to the Lord’s faithful people at a time when great tribulation and distress would be in the land. The mine was to be called the “Relief Mine.” He told him of a period of four years of famine and explained that the first two years the Saints would be able to get by, but the third and fourth years they would have nothing to eat unless it was prepared and stored up against that time. Then there would be two more years which would be a recovery period.
The messenger explained that there would be a winter of heavy snow and big snow drifts after which there would be a mild open winter, but whether that winter was to follow immediately or whether some other winters would be in between, he never explained.
However, immediately following the mild open winter, there would be a hot, dry summer. The crops would come up in the spring, and there would be considerable moisture, and the crops would be glorious (that is the word Bishop used to use.) He saw the wheat would grow up and head out beautifully, and the irrigated wheat would mature, but the dry land wheat would not have enough moisture to fill out. By harvest time the heads would curl over in a sort of crescent shape. This was shown to him in another dream wherein he saw he went into the wheat fields when they were binding the grain which looked like it would be a splendid crop. He picked up a bundle of wheat by the binding twine, and the head’s end of the bundle came up with the butt end of the bundle hanging down because it was heavier. Realizing that the head end should have gone down if there had been good wheat in it, he examined the heads of wheat by crushing them in his hands to bring out the kernels. He found that the wheat was terribly shrunken and not fit for food. He was told by the messenger [34] that this condition would bring about a shortage of food during the first year of harvest.
The second year he was shown would be the same only much less food raised. Still, the irrigated grain would be good. He was told we would need to store up the first and second years grain to supply food for the third and fourth years. The third year the shortage would be so great that there would hardly be anything raised for food. The fourth year they would not be able to raise anything for food.
He was shown in another dream that during the fourth year there would be plenty of money to buy food and he with others went up and down throughout the country seeking to buy food and they could not buy any. Any people who had a little food would not sell it at any price. During this time of famine there would be no rain to do any good. He saw the clouds would come up, and it would look like it was going to rain, but a wind would come up and blow the clouds away; and if there was any rain at all, it was just a few drops which were not sufficient to do any good.
The purpose of the mine was to build store bins and store up wheat and other foods like Joseph of old who was sold into Egypt. He saw the rains would come in the fifth year, and they would be forced to spare a little wheat for seed but would be sorely pressed to raise enough to eat during the fifth year and save enough for seed for the sixth year. The rains continued to come, the crops grew, and at the harvest time of the sixth year they would have enough food to carry on. He was told by the messenger that there would be a great crash in the land before the period of famine began. This crash would be brought about by prices going up, which condition was illustrated to him as being like a person on high [35] stilts. When prices became extremely high, something happened in the land like knocking the stilts from under the person and down came everything. Businesses closed down, labor was thrown out of work, people were hungry, and great tribulations were in the land. He saw that the best place to live and to work would be at the mine. Those who worked there would be the best off. He was told by the messenger that the Church program to care for the poor would all be used up during the first and second years of famine, that the mine would bring relief during the third year and would carry on the relief from the third year on. The messenger gave him to understand that he was chosen to bring about this work of the development of the mine and awaited his decision to accept it or not. Brother Koyle began to explain that he was not able to do that work by saying, “I don’t know how to take up a claim or drill a round of holes or blast them; I don’t have any money, and I don’t see how I ever could accomplish that work.”
The messenger replied, “If you will be true and faithful to the instructions given you, I will see that men and money come to your assistance.” Still Brother Koyle was not willing to accept the mission. He was a very successful farmer and said, “I’m a farmer, and I love farming, and I don’t know anything about mining.” He had never been in a mine in his life having refused many times to go in the mines at Tintic when he was freighting butter and eggs, etc., to the Tintic Mining District.
At this time Koyle’s neighbor was digging an artesian well–the first well that was attempted in that part of the country. The messenger said, “Your neighbor is digging a well. Tomorrow at 12 o’clock noon he will strike water. The well will be a glorious success. They will take up their machinery and leave during the afternoon having fully accomplished that work.” He continued by saying, “If that all happens tomorrow [36] as I have told you, will that be sufficient evidence and testimony to you that you will make just as glorious success of the mine by being obedient to the instructions given to you?” Brother Koyle answered, “Yes, if that happens tomorrow, I will accept of the mine mission.” The messenger said, “You have a neighbor friend by the name of Joseph Brockbank whom you are to take with you when you go up on the mountain to start the mine.” The messenger explained that Mr. Brockbank would be as “doubting Thomas;” but if he would be very persistent, Mr. Brockbank would finally concede and go with him upon the mountain.
Then the messenger said, “Now come with me.” He was taken in the spirit upon the mountain and was shown the mountain, the topography of the mountain where he was to commence digging. The messenger said, “Now dig a foot and a half, and you will find a black leader which he was to follow straight into the mountain for forty feet. Then the leader would turn to the right and go to the right another forty feet. Then the leader would turn down, and they were to follow it. Koyle and the messenger in the spirit went right into the mountain and saw these conditions, and followed the leader down.
The leader in the beginning was about an inch thick and black. They followed straight down until they came to a little ridge or “bulge” which seemed to turn over and turn them off in an angle to the right–the leader going off on an incline of about 20 degrees down. This they followed for nearly 200 feet, exact distances not being given to Brother Koyle. Then they came to where they went almost straight down. The messenger explained that they must side step far enough to the right, far enough to put in a windless station which he called No. 1. This went down by putting in ladders on just a little incline to the right for about 50 feet when he would come to a bench that was about four feet wide and flat, then turning down about [37] five feet where they were to put in Station No. 2. He was shown how to put in the stations setting in timbers and wedging them in solidly.
The No. 2 was to go almost straight down dipping a little bit to the right of the station. This, he estimated to be between 75 and 100 feet, which later proved to be 85 feet.
At the bottom of No. 2 run where they were to put in the No. 3 Station, he was shown a global wall which Koyle called a “belly roll” which extended about five feet long and wide. It was curved like a portion of a globe and was smooth. Here they side-stepped to the right a little bit for protection from above and put in the No. 3 Station.
Right here the messenger explained that this rock was low grade ore, but they were not to take it out for ore. When they arrived at this place in the digging, Koyle had this rock assayed and it went $3.00 a ton in gold.
The No. 3 run was to be practically perpendicular. He estimated it about 100 feet. Here there was to be the No. 4 Station and the formation was to change from a light grayish color (from No. 1 to No. 4) to a darker and reddish formation entirely different. The leader was to be red and all the way up to four inches wide. There was to be a hanging wall and a foot wall which were to dip off to the east and which would come within about three feet of each other for a rod or more in what was called the “pinch.” Then the hanging wall disappeared and the drift would open up big. This run was to be more than 100 feet. At the bottom of No. 4 run, they were to move to the right far enough to put in a station completely protected from the No. 4 run. Then they were to go down on a very slight incline to the east a short distance which afterward proved to be 35 feet. Then they were to move to the right a similar [38] distance on the level–the leader still being of a reddish color–where they were to put in No. 6 Station.
This was to go down a rod or so with an incline to the east. Then they would come to a reddish wall standing perpendicular, but sloping at the left and down on about a 15% grade. It was to be a dark hanging wall and foot wall part of the way. These walls were about four feet apart with the side wall gradually giving out or disappearing. This distance appeared to be somewhere around 50 feet, where they were to put in No. 7 Station.
He was shown by the messenger that at this point the leader turned straight down and that it would be no thicker than a table knife blade and, “You will need to hunt around to find it.” (The reason for this hunting for the leader proved to be because of some discord which existed among the workers when they had dug down to that place.)
They continued down No. 7 run about 100 feet where was to be No. 8 Station. Here the leader would still be hard to find, and he saw in hunting the leader, they would go down in two or three places a little ways and have to fill them up because they would not have the right place. They were to go straight down on No. 8 run a rod or so and strike a foot wall going on an incline to the east.
This was all to get flatter as they went down this run; and as they proceeded down this run, they were to find the hanging wall, which was five or six feet from the foot wall but would not continue all the way. This run was to bear a little bit to the right as they went down becoming quite flat at the bottom.
At the end of No. 8 run there was to be a fissure coming across the shaft which was to make a wall going straight down [39] about one foot where the formation was to change from a dark slightly blocky lime to a light creamy colored short rock. From No. 8 Station they were to go straight down about 50 feet where they would come to a large black leader about two feet thick, which would drift off to the east about a 20-degree angle down. But here the messenger explained that before they drifted off they would have to continue straight down at least another fifty feet and then come up out of there and follow this black leader on the incline to the east. He never explained why they were to do that, and it remained a mystery to Brother Koyle until after all this work was accomplished. This black leader was to be soft so that you could squeeze it in your hand like a lump of mud. He was shown that there would be a black hanging wall and a black wall about four feet apart which they were to go down in between at a very definite direction to the east, which was given to him to understand without any figures or mechanical aid. He was to go down in between these black walls for about 50 feet when he would come to a side wall on the left, which he called the “north wall.” This wall was to be smooth and black so that you could see your face in it similar to a mirror. It was to come in on the left or north side of the shaft and they were to follow down this north wall down on the incline. The hanging wall would fade out before the foot wall. The north wall was to be practically perpendicular for some distance and would gradually crowd us a very little bit to the right and would also begin to tip back at the top and lean a little bit away from the incline shaft. The black leader continued on at the top of the north wall. This No. 10 run on the incline was somewhere between 200 and 300 feet. Then they were to move off to the right the full distance of the shaft and put in the No. 11 Station.
Here they were to find four walls–top, bottom, and each side–which he described as a “box.” (This is as far as they have dug in this part of the mine having dug four or five feet in this [40] box.) They were to go down inside the box about on a 20-degree slope to the east, down until they came to the “turndown,”: which distance was not manifested.
This turndown was to be designated by about a dozen different conditions in the formation. There was to be a low dark foot wall on the right-hand side and a high hanging wall on the left side opposite the low foot wall. There was to be a fissure coming across the bottom of the drift going forward on an angle from left to right. This fissure would make a wall dipping back over to the west and also to be of white rock and two or three inches thick. There was to be a white fissure standing perpendicular in the face of the drift about an inch or two wide. The turndown was to be Station No. 12. In the turndown was to be soft low grade ore which he designated as the “soft ore.” This would be easy digging and the messenger pointed out how they would need to be very careful in digging here; otherwise they might have to put in a few timbers. But if they were careful, they would not have to timber it.
They were to follow down the west wall which would dip back slightly to the west and get rotten and disappear. This run appeared to be more than a hundred feet; then they would come to the cap rock.
The cap rock was an exceedingly hard rock which was to be somewhere around three feet thick, having a light greyish color, which encased the rich gold ore. This was explained to be like the top of a chimney covered over with a hard cap which Koyle referred to as the “capping.” This No. 12 run was to be of fine creamy white colored gravel or rock reminding Koyle of the small gravel in a red ant bed, and he referred to it as the “ant gravel.” This cap rock was so hard that they felt around to find a soft place, but could not find one, and they almost despaired of getting through this capping. But when [41] they did get through, they came into a chimney of rich gold ore, which went on an incline to the east for nearly 100 feet when they came to nine rooms which were already dug out. These nine rooms were dug out east and west and were paralleling each other going south with some three or four feet of rich gold ore between the rooms supporting the ground.
The rooms were about a rod wide and several rods long. the gold ore was so rich that it reminded Koyle of the red and white stripes in the American flag, the gold ore being in the white rock.
He was shown a tunnel that came into the mountain to this rich ore, but was told not to come into the ore through that tunnel, but he must dig his way in as he was shown. Later on, he was shown another tunnel which he was to dig into the rich ore.
Koyle has told me on different occasions that if the Lord would let him, he could get into the rich ore in three weeks’ time, but he was not permitted to open that tunnel at that time. He was shown various things which were in the old tunnel, some of which he told me would prove the Book of Mormon to be true. He was reluctant to tell us very much about those things at that time.
When we got down into the nine rooms in the spirit with the messenger, he looked to the east for a long distance and also to the south for a long distance and asked the messenger how far does this rich ore go. The messenger did not tell him any distance, but said, “This ore will be here for you and your children and your children’s children for many generations, and they will never be able to dig it all out.” He further stated that this was the richest gold mine that ever would be discovered.
[42]As he came out of the mine through the old tunnel, he saw some crockery pots filled with precious things, some of which he understood were Nephite coins but did not examine any of them. He also saw a human skeleton near the mouth of the tunnel as he came out of the mountain and the messenger disappeared.
These 12 stations, the capping, the chimney incline, the nine rooms and the old tunnel comprise the information first given by the messenger and are known as the old or upper workings.
The morning after this eventful dream–vision–Brother Koyle told his wife the story of the dream as he called it. She said, “Well, John, you know nothing like that will ever come to us. We have to work for everything we have;” and she discredited the dream. It was just too big for her to believe. Still, she was willing to cooperate with him in any and all things he decided to do.
He said to his wife, “Today I’m going down to the lower field to work. I want you to watch and see if they get water in the neighbor’s well today at 12 o’clock as I won’t be back home until evening.”
She paid little attention to what he said and did not notice the work on the well, but all at once she heard shouting and yelling and went to the door to see what was the matter, and she saw the water flowing up through the rigging and saw them swinging their hats and heard them yelling for joy. She looked at the clock, and it was just 12 o’clock noon.
That evening when Koyle came home, she went out with a big smile on her face and opened the front gate for him to drive in–a thing she never did before, and he wondered what [43] she was laughing at. He looked down at his clothes to see if there was anything wrong with them and then looked up inquiringly. She turned her head and looked toward the well and then Koyle looked toward the well. The water was flowing strongly through the two-inch pipe shooting water several feet from the well.
He put up his team, came into the house, and said, “Em, I have got to go get Joseph Brockbank and go up on the hill.”
The next morning, September 4, 1894, he rode on his horse to Brockbank’s and told him the whole story. Brockbank just laughed at him and said he was crazy or words to that effect. He stayed with him and rehearsed with him many things time and time again and finally Brockbank said, “Well, I see that I have got to go with you, or I’ll never get rid of you.” So he said, “Tie your horse up to the shed, and we will get into my buggy,” and away they went to the mountain some six or seven miles away.
When they got up to the foothills approaching from the north side of Knob Hill, they came to a gully that the water had washed out and they could not drive across it. Koyle had told Brockbank that they should go around to the south side of Knob Hill, but not being able to cross this wash-out, Brockbank said, “If I turn around, I’ll go home; I will not go any further.” Koyle said, “We can go up from this side, but I don’t see anything here that is familiar,” as he had not been shown the north side of Knob Hill at that time.
They unhitched the horses and proceeded to climb up the mountain. They had reached nearly the Knob Hill saddle and Brockbank was so tired he would not go any further and sat down. Koyle said, “Well, you wait here until I go up to the top [44] of the saddle,” which he did. When he had got over the ridge a little way, he saw a light spot right under a little green bush. He came back to where he could see Brockbank and yelled to him, “Come on up; here it is!” When Brockbank arrived at the ridge and got around to this place, Koyle said waving his arm in a semi-circle, “Can you see anything different over in this direction?” indicating where the light spot was. Brockbank said, “Yes, I can see a light spot over there probably a hundred feet.” He said that it looked like it was lit up like there was a powerful light glowing. Koyle handed him the pick and said, “Can you take this pick and strike it up in the middle of this light spot?” He said, “Yes,” and they proceeded to go over there, whereupon Brockbank struck the pick upright in the center of the light spot.
Koyle said, “that is exactly where I could see the light” and further stated, “We will dig in here a foot and a half and if we don’t find the black leader, we will go home; there is nothing to it.”
Incidentally, the ground in that particular wash was of a creamy clay color. They proceeded to dig, and sure enough, when they had dug a foot and a half, they found a black leader about an inch thick. They dug in two or three feet along this leader, Brockbank becoming quite enthusiastic about it. They took some of the leader and it assayed $1.00 in gold.
After covering up the hole they had dug, they joyously took their journey homeward. This word went from friend to friend until they got a small group of men, including Frank Woodward, who has had considerable experience in mining. Koyle and Woodward went up to the mountain and took up about ten claims and had them recorded.
The messenger had told Koyle that the ore was deep down in the hill and that they would need to work a little at a [45] time, and during the winter as they were able, and not pursue the work at first beyond their ability to do it.
They worked three months during the winter time each winter for several years. They dug in the forty feet to the east and the forty feet to the south and went down into the “bulge” or “turnover.” Here Frank Woodward wanted to go with the turnover into the mountain and said every mining man would follow this turnover. Koyle told them that he was shown to go to the right on an incline. There arose a disputation, and Koyle finally said, “Well, you fellows can go any way you want to, but I won’t work with you until you are willing to go the way that was shown to me.” So Koyle did not come up on the hill for a long time, and the others worked down in there and they wound around until they practically dug out a big letter “S”.
They finally got lost and went to Koyle and said, “Well, we got lost. We gave up; we are ready now to go where you say.” Then Koyle started down the way that was shown and they followed on down to the No. 1 Station.
From here down our course was mostly downward. They followed the program outlined by the messenger very definitely. In fact, they could not make progress whenever they got off the track or off the leader which they were to follow. There were many very interesting incidents that occurred from time to time in their work. One in particular I might mention was when they had just begun to dig down from No. 1 Station. Frank Woodward was in charge of the visit, and while he was on No. 1 alone, he said a little dark Lamanite appeared to him and told him, “This is the beginning of the `turndown,'” and Frank understood the little dark Lamanite to mean the turndown to the cap rock. This Lamanite spirit came to mislead Frank and get him off the track, as he told him he was to look for the wall that would tip back to the west whereas [46] the true program was to have the wall lean toward the east. Mr. Woodward was influenced very much by the instruction the little dark Lamanite gave him, and Koyle was kept very busy keeping them on the right way. Suffice it to say that they did follow the definitely directed course.
When they got down to the No. 6 Station, June Pierce was drilling. Koyle explained carefully the exact direction toward the east they were to go toward, to hit the wall that would turn them to the left. Koyle saw in a dream that June was bearing too far to the right and that he must go up on the hill and put June back on the course toward the left. He arrived up on Knob Hill at the cabin about noon. The first thing he said to June was, “June, you are going too far to the right.” June said, “How do you know?” You have not been up here for more than a week.” “Well, I saw you in here last night, and you are going too far to the right.”
They went down the mine and the Bishop showed him wherein they were going too far to the right. Had June gone the width of the incline shaft, he would have missed the wall entirely.
Another interesting incident happened as they went down on the No. 8 run. After going straight down for 12 feet looking for the foot wall which would turn them to the east on an incline, Frank Woodward was very much interested in a little spot on the west side. He dug in there a little way and told the men that this was the right way to go as that looked very promising from a mining standpoint. He persuaded the men to accept of his design to dig in there a ways, saying, “We must not let Johnny know anything about it,” meaning Koyle. They had a general understanding to that effect. So they worked putting in a round or two of holes in the place and covering up the place with boards so that Koyle would not [47] know anything about it. About that time Koyle had a dream wherein he was shown exactly what they were doing. He saddled his gray mare and went up to the mine arriving there as usual about noon. He said to Woodward, “Frank, what are you doing back behind the ladder on the west side there?” Frank decided to play innocent and ignorant and said, “Oh, nothing,” trying to sidetrack Koyle. Koyle said, “Yes, you are.” Woodward said, “Okay, ask these men.” There was not one of them that would admit it. Koyle said, “I saw that you are going in the wrong direction behind the ladder on the west side and that there were six of you implicated in it,” so they went down the mine and Koyle went behind the ladder, threw the boards off the hole, and exposed their doings. They did not have much to say about it, but years later two of the men told Koyle the whole story and there were six of them implicated in it.
When they got down to No. 9 Station, the formation changed color from a dark rather blockly lime to a light creamy colored broken up formation. As they threw this rock over the dump, it turned a very light color. This was what they were expecting, and Koyle always told them the dump would get a very light color after which it was to get dark again. While going down No. 9 run about 50 feet, he told them that they were to come into the black. As I was working in the mine at that time, we were continually asking, “When are we going to find the black?” as this light-colored “short” rock was very hard to drill in as the drill hole would keep caving in. We made very slow progress. Finally we came to the black which was a fissure about two feet wide tipping off to the east on about a 20-degree angle. After digging down another 50 feet, we came up and put in the No. 10 Station where the big black leader was.
As we began digging down in this big black leader of the 20-degree incline, we kept pestering Koyle to let us throw the [48] muck down the 50-foot hole we came up out of. Koyle would not consent to do this at first, but he didn’t know what the hole was dug for and finally we persuaded him to let us fill it up. He said, “Well, if you do, you may have to dig it out again.” But we were willing to concede to most anything to keep from windlassing the muck to the surface from this No. 10 Station. While sitting on this station, Koyle was telling me about the beautiful north wall which would come in on the north side of this No. 10 Run. It would be black and slick and very shiny. This was so much different from any other place we had found that it looked almost impossible of fulfillment. I said to Koyle, “If we find that black wall just as you have described it, I will be well satisfied that we will find all the rest of them.” Koyle reassured me that we would get the north wall exactly as he explained, which we did in 53 feet. This wall came in exactly on line. If we had missed the right direction one degree to the right, we would never have found a wall.
One thing I should mention here is that we struck the first few drops of water which increased considerably as we went down this run some 250 feet. This water made our progress very slow and very tedious. We drew it up in bucketsful at first and poured it into the sump or the place where we had filled up the hole. Finally the fine black sediment in the leader puddled the sump so that it held water. The water would not sink down through it. Then we were stuck. We did not know what to do. At about that time Koyle came down the mine and we were sitting by wondering what to do. Koyle said to get a 10-foot pipe from the surface and bring it down. Lars Olson, who was the shifter at this time, as Koyle said, “went up the ladder like a cat” and soon brought the pipe down. He had sharpened the pipe so we rammed it down into the sump hole and let the water go on down. We kept repeating this process for many months until finally the whole sump hole clogged up and then Koyle said, “Well boys, we have got to [49] dig this all out and open up this hole again.” This was a terribly nasty, mucky job. We were covered with slime in coming in and out of the mine as it slopped over on the ladder in many places. Finally, we got the hole all dug out, and we found an open fissure at the bottom of it which took the water away from that time on for many months. Thus, we realized why we had to dig that extra fifty-foot hole.
After we had got down the No. 10 Run 150 feet, we were nearing Christmas time. We all wanted to lay off a week for Christmas. We were just simply tired out pumping water 18 hours a day and many were the troubles we had. Many interesting stories could be written concerning those troubles.
Our biggest job was in pumping the water about 80 feet up to the sump hole. We had a 12-inch pump with a four-inch cylinder with an inch and a quarter outlet and two-inch suction hoses 20 feet long with four-foot leverage on the handle, and it took four men at a time to run the pump with two extra men to change off every five minutes. We finally prevailed on the Bishop to let us lay off for Christmas three days. After Christmas when we came back to the mine, Bishop had a dream wherein he saw that he would see the face of the drift or the bottom of the hole by getting all the water out of it by Saturday 12 o’clock noon. During this interval we broke the head out of the pump. The head was six inches in diameter and 5/8 of an inch thick. This completely stopped our work. This occurred in the middle of the night. Lars Olson asked me to go out and report to the Bishop who was sleeping in the cabin. The Bishop told me to take a five-gallon can and cut a piece of tin out of it the size of the head and take a piece of candle box 1/2 inch thick and make a head with that. This seemed ridiculous to me to even consider it. If 5/8 inch solid cast iron would not stand the pressure, a piece of tin and a 1/2-inch of soft wood, would never hold it. I went back down the mine [50] and told Lars Olson. Lars came back up out of the mine and got the material and a little piece of strap iron to put across, and we made a new head out of that and put it on. Bishop came down the mine just as I was screwing on the last nut, suffice it to say this improvised head did hold the pressure and we pumped with that tin head for several weeks until we obtained a new one. This is a mystery that has never been explained. The head never did give out. At this time Lars said to the bishop that this is one dream that would not come true. “You will not see the face of the drift Saturday noon.” Koyle could not see how it would be possible either, as we had three days and nights of filling up with water while we were off for Christmas and all that ran in during the time that we were pumping, but suffice it to say we did see the face by Saturday noon exactly at 12 o’clock.
Koyle told us the deeper we got down in the mine, the better the air would be. This seemed contrary to all reason, but it proved to be true. There was a stream of air coming down the footwall side and going out on the top of the drift clear from the surface, and we did not have to pump air down the mine after we got down into the No. 10 Run.
In the early fall of this same year Bishop had a dream wherein he saw that James E. Talmage would come up on the hill. We were all wishing for him to come, which he did. There were a dozen or more men working at the mine at that time. Most of us went down into the mine with Dr. Talmage. He paid high tribute to our solid and safe ladder and the very safe manner in which the Bishop had been shown an open fissure which would also take the water away. Among the many questions asked by Dr. Talmage, I explained to him what this sump hole was for and I asked him, “Do you think we will ever find an open fissure down in that hole?” He said, “Very possibly, very possibly.” This was the only encouragement he [51] gave us that I remember of and the only thing that we were worried about. We did find this open fissure exactly as it had been shown to the Bishop.
Narrow Escape
In the digging of the mine there were many narrow escapes from death. I might relate one incident that happened to me. We had just stopped work to eat our lunch at noontime. There were about six of us. The others sat down along the incline drift where the track was. I was in charge of the men that day and was standing in the middle of the track. For some reason, I had not picked out a place to eat my lunch. While standing in the middle of the track, a mass of rock and clay fell out of the leader directly over my head. It was about 18″ x 30″ x 5″. In some unaccountable manner I seemed to see this mass falling right over my head. As quick as lightning, I jumped both feet at once toward the south of the track. The mass of rock dropped exactly where I was standing. Had I not jumped in time, it would have crushed my body. It gave no warning as it slipped out from the wet fissure or leader. My brother Ralph was near me and was greatly astonished at how I avoided being hit with that mass of rock and dirt.
At another time when we were digging this incline drift, I was told to shovel out the round of holes or clean out the muck in the face of the drift. I noticed overhead a little crack about a quarter of an inch wide in the ceiling where hung a large rock 18″ x 36″ x 6′ long, extending the length of the drift. There was water dripping out from the back and we had to haul the water up the drift 60′ or 70′ in the bucket. After we got most of the water out, then I got under this big rock to clean out the muck. I had worked there more than half an hour when Lars Olson, the shifter came down. Immediately he saw this crack about this rock and told me to come out from under [52] it. He then took his candle stick and just touched this crack above the rock to see if it were solid. He had hardly touched it with his candlestick when the whole thing fell exactly where I had been working. It surely was providential that it did not fall while I was under it, as it took only the slightest touch of the candlestick to bring it down.
At another time before this in the same drift, we were working one morning and up the drift about 30 feet where a cross fissure came across the drift, there was some water dripping out. Lars Olson came down the drift, it being only about 3-1/2′ from the footwall to the hanging wall. When he got to this place where the water dripped down, he stopped abruptly and raised his candle to look at the drips. He had hardly raised his candle when down came a big slab of rock immediately in front of him about 18″ x 3′ x 3′. Had he not hesitated to examine this place, he would have been exactly under this mess of rock when it fell. I saw this myself as I was watching him hurrying down the drift. His life was surely saved by his stopping to examine the drips.
On another occasion in this same drift there were six of us working on the pump, four at a time. The pump was situated about four feet above the sump hole which had about 12 feet of water in it. I was resting at the time. Four others were pumping. Dave Olson was one of the four who was working. Suddenly the pump handle broke with a lurch which sent Dave over backwards, head first down the sump hole into this 12 feet of water. We were so shocked, we seemed to be frozen to the spot. As soon as we could gain possession of ourselves and come to his rescue, he came dripping up the ladder out of the sump hole. How he tumbled into that hole without striking his head or knocking himself unconscious we were unable to explain. Had he done so, he would have sunk to the bottom and been drowned before we could have gotten [53] him out. This sump hole was about five feet in diameter and it would have been a hard matter of getting him out before he drowned in the 12 feet of water; but the Lord surely was watching over him that no harm came to him.
I was assigned to turn the drips as the water kept dripping down from the back overhead. I had to hammer and chip off the sharp points of the rock where the water would run down, and run the water over to the side of the drift so the men working would not get wet. On one occasion a piece of steel flew off the hammer and hit me right in the pupil of my eye. I could not get it out as it seemed to bury itself right in the pupil of my eye. I went to Dr. Anderson of Springville and he put the eye at rest and had to dig a hole in the pupil to get the piece of steel out. He said it was doubtful whether I would be able to see out of that eye, but thanks to the Lord, it healed up perfectly and did not affect the vision at all.
The time came that we were required to come up out of the upper workings and quit the work there because the Church had served notice on Bishop Koyle that if he did not quit, they would cut us all off the Church. So rather than be cut off the Church, we conceded to their unjust demands. Soon after this Bishop Koyle was told in a dream that all this work, toil, hardship, and sacrifice was accounted to us for righteousness sake.
Bishop Koyle was shown that in the digging of this mine there would be a man killed unless we were very, very careful. One Monday morning __________ Gardner and ___________ were going down the mine before the rest of us had arrived at the mine, as we always went home for the weekend. They were fooling with one another and sort of chasing each other down the ladders. He started down No. 7 first ahead of Gardner. As No. 7 was more than perpendicular, he had just got to this [54] place when Gardner slipped from the ladder and fell. Because the ladder dipped back under, Gardner did not hit _________, but fell to the bottom of the shaft about 100 feet and was killed. Before this time __________ had fallen in this very same place, but nearing the bottom of the shaft, his overalls caught on the side of the ladder and broke his fall by tearing his overalls from bottom to top, and he landed uninjured and was able to climb out of the mine with very little assistance.
Tunnel Program
It was on the 10th of January, 1914, that Bishop Koyle had a most wonderful interview with two of the three Nephite Apostles. Among other things, they showed where the tunnel was to be. We knew of the tunnel but did not know just where it was to be commenced. There was three feet of snow at this time on the north slope of Knob Hill. Bishop Koyle was shown that down at the bottom of this north slope right in the gully there were two bare spots of ground, the smaller one just a little above this larger one. He was to commence the tunnel just where the large bare spot was.
He was working at the mine at the time, and he told us that morning about the tunnel and about the bare spots and that he was to go down there that morning and begin the tunnel. He chose the two oldest men, Wm. Pierce and Wm. Gammell, as he thought it would be easier for them to work the tunnel than to climb the ladders. Lars Olson, the shifter, asked if he might go down with them. We could not imagine how there could be any bare spots of ground with all of that amount of snow. As they waded down the mountain, from the cabin located at the top of Knob Hill near the old workings, the snow came clear to their waists. Lars Olson went ahead sort of breaking the trail. As they neared the place where the bare spots were designated, Olson went on ahead. William [55] Gammell said, “Bishop, how can there be any bare spots with all this snow? You can’t see a bare spot anywhere on the mountains.” Koyle reassured him that he would find them because he said he saw them there, and, “I know they are there.” Gammell said, “I wish you had not told them we would find those bare spots because if we don’t, they will all quit as the snow is always deepest in the gullies.” Koyle confessed to Gammell that he didn’t see how there could be any bare spots with all that snow. Soon Lars Olson got down to the little bluff where he could see the gully where the bare spots were to be found and sure enough, there they were. He took off his hat and swung it around his head and shouted, “Here they are!”
He remained where he was until they got down there to him. They stood and looked at the bare spots and surveyed the whole neighborhood. There was not a track of any kind to be seen. The snow had just simply melted and left the ground bare where these two bare spots were without any apparent reason that was visible for the snow melting on those spots. They dug out the face of the tunnel, and Koyle gave them instructions as to which way to go.
Back from the tunnel to the west about 150 feet, a little ridge stood out. Koyle was shown and told to stand on this little ridge and lean out by holding on to the brush, and the direction of the tunnel was to be directly from him into the mountain. He came to this spot every few days to sight and give them direction into the mountain. If they moved to the right or to the left, he could tell by sighting from this point. The tunnel was to be straight into the mountain.
At about 300 feet they were to strike a little water which he was told would be good to drink. By this water there was to be a smooth dark rock about three feet high. The color of the tunnel from the beginning was of a light yellowish hue. They [56] were to go on in this straight tunnel and come to a dark streak on the left-hand side and as they got further on many hundreds of feet, they were to come to a hog’s back which was a dark rib of rock which would cross the tunnel coming to a little peak in the center of the tunnel which would be about two feet high from the bottom of the tunnel. He was told this little peak would be an assurance that they were exactly in line. He said it reminded him of a big black hog in the tunnel. Therefore, he called it the “Hog’s Back.”
All these things they found as they dug the tunnel exactly as the Bishop had explained. From this Hog’s Back, the rock would get dark and blocky and further on a red streak would cross the drift. This red streak was to lead off to the right which they were to follow a short distance until they came to a big east and west cross break (which undoubtedly is the Ajax Fault that extends from Tintic into the Wasatch Mountains). Then they were to go down on this fissure which would be known as the “wintz”. This fissure was to cross the main tunnel a little further in the tunnel. He was shown that they would come to water in the tunnel and the working men were continually asking, “When will we come to the water?”
Koyle said, when we find the water, there will be a nice little stream which will run out of the tunnel and over the dump. They were required to dig the little ditch from the beginning of the tunnel for this water to run out in. This ditch was a veritable nuisance to dig. It caused them more trouble apparently than the rest of the digging. The workers tormented the Bishop about finding this water a great deal. On one occasion, when they were pestering the Bishop about getting the water, the inspiration of the Lord came to him and he declared to the shift boss, ____________, “We will get the water in 100 feet from here, and it will run over the dump.” The shift boss had them drill a hole in the side of the drift at [57] that point and drive in a wooden peg to mark the spot. They went on in the straight line 70 or 80 feet, and it was still as dry as powder. When they got 90 feet, it commenced to get damp. When they got 95 feet, the water ran down the tunnel down the ditch about 200 feet. When they struck a water fissure, the water ran out over the dump. The fulfillment of this prophecy was a great boon to the continuation of the working of the tunnel.
Shut Down
By the time they had dug the tunnel 300 feet, the Church shut the mine down. About this time Koyle and his family had procured a ranch up near Burley, Idaho, and Koyle sold his farm in Benjamin and moved to Idaho and lived on the ranch. The mine remained shut down for six years. While Koyle lived in Idaho, he was put in as first counselor to the Bishop. Toward the close of the six years, the Bishop saw in a dream that he was to open the mine again and get the work underway. He had a letter written to Peter C. Carlson to start the work going. The letter should have been posted that day as the mail only came by twice a week, but the letter did not get posted.
A few days after this, Peter C. Carlson, with two or three other brethren, came to Bishop’s home in the vicinity of Burley and asked if they could start the mine going again. Bishop said, “Did you receive my letter?” They told him no. “Well,” he said, “I wrote you a letter to tell you to start up the mine.” Upon inquiring, he found out the letter had not been posted.
[58]They said that they did not have any money to get powder and necessary equipment to work the mine with. Bishop told them to go and the Lord would open the way for them to get the necessary money.
On their way back to Salt Lake, they stopped to see Horace Brough at Bountiful, and he gave them $700. He was the first man they contacted. With this money they started to work again in the tunnel, the work progressed very rapidly and very favorably. (The Burley incident occurred when they were only 300 feet in the tunnel. The water came about 1900 feet in the tunnel.)
Bishop Koyle told the men that they would come to a place in the tunnel where a leader would turn off to the right. This leader would be an inch wide on the north side of the tunnel and would widen out to 18 inches wide on the south side of the tunnel. This fissure or leader would widen out in a few feet to more than the width of the ordinary tunnel or drift. He was to follow this fissure off to the right and keep on the west wall of the 60 or 70 feet when they would come into some black. The fissure would turn black, and the leader would go along the top of the drift. This drift he called the “Manway” and it was just a very little uphill. This fissure was to have side drifts in it at various places along the line and in the main, there would be five of these drifts which he compared to five fingers taking off from the hand. In each of these fingers or drifts they would find very good ore. He was not given specific details of this program and was told he would have to work that out by the inspiration of the spirit. Suffice it to say, they have gone into some 500 feet of this black rock which is highly mineralized.
Soon after they struck this black rock, they found a streak of high grade platinum ore. This streak went but a short [59] distance and they lost it. In this drift also they encountered a little water which ran out into the main tunnel in a little ditch a few inches big. The many assays taken in this black rock showed good value in gold and other precious metals. Three different samples sent to California showed some 17 to 23 valuable rare metals. Mr. Warf, an old assayer, declared there were rich values in uranium and other metals. John Harker, a metallurgical chemist from Denver, declared there was radium in this ore, and he got a radium burn from handling it which he nursed for several weeks and it was not cured when he left.
Parrot (?), another chemist, declared there was a combination of metals which made a high-grade stainless steel. While he was there testing, they made an electric furnace and melted out some 25 or 30 pounds of metal which was of a white color from which they refined the stainless steel. Orvin Christensen told me that they took a little round piece of this stainless steel which they had dropped into water to cool when it was red hot and made some very extensive tests to try to break it, but were unable to break it.
In driving the main tunnel, the Bishop told them that they would come to a wall on the north side that would go right along with the tunnel. It would be black in color. It would extend about 50 feet. They would also find a wall on the south side which also would go along more than 100 feet, part of it paralleling this wall on the north. They found these walls exactly as described, the tunnel going right between the two. The Bishop had told them there would be a fissure coming across the tunnel from the north side diagonally across until it hit the south side. This was to be the “turndown” in the main tunnel. At this point there were to be a number of definite conditions, which Bishop afterwards referred to as Brother Weight’s ten points:
[60]1.The fissure itself
2.The fissure was to be in a white rock
3.It was to go diagonally across
4.There was to be another fissure standing straight
up and down in the middle of the face of the tunnel
5.This fissure was to be white
6.The fissure crossing the tunnel was to have a slight
dip back to the west
7.It was to be about three inches wide
8.There was to be a hanging wall on the north side at
this place, and
9.A low black foot wall on the south side, and
10.A sloping hanging wall coming in overhead sloping
to the east down toward the bottom of the tunnel
on about a 20-degree slope
All of these definite requirements were there. This occurred about 3350 feet in the tunnel.
They dug a hole on the east side of this “turndown” fissure about ten feet deep. It seemed to satisfy the Bishop as this wall continued down. There being water in the tunnel, they did not go any further as they were not able to cope with the water situation at that time.
They dug the tunnel on in to the 3400-feet point. At the end of the tunnel one could kneel down and see daylight at the mouth of the tunnel showing the tunnel to be straight.
Here we might say that if the tunnel had not been straight, they would never have found these required conditions. The Bishop had no instrument to go by to make the tunnel straight, and mining engineers declared that it was an impossibility to run a straight tunnel without mechanical instruments. They marveled at the possibility of it as it had [61] never been done before for such a long distance. The Bishop was guided by inspiration in his direction. (This is the end where the present tunnel is.)
The program pertaining to the “turndown” as I remember it in part, is as follows: The west wall was to dip back a little to the west and they are to follow that. They will not go very far until they will come into a soft, low-grade ore which the Bishop referred to as the “soft.” It will be light-colored and rather gravelly in its composition. The west wall will get rotten and sluff off and will not be permanent all the way.
In digging down through this run, which is to be more than a hundred feet practically straight down, they will have to be very careful so that it will not cave in and require timbering.
They will make rapid progress in this run and will be able to shovel much of it without blasting. This low-grade ore will color the dump a little light creamy color.
When they reach the capping over the rich gold ore, the capping will be so hard they will despair to drill through it. They will try here and there and feel around for a soft place to drill in, but will not be able to find one. This cap rock will be around three feet thick of a greyish color. This virtually is the capping over the chimney which leads down into the body of rich gold ore where he saw the nine rooms previously mined.
While I was on a mission, in a sort of dream/vision, I saw these nine rooms all dug out and four or five men working in one of these rooms. They were getting out a great block of rich gold ore about 18″ x 30″ x about 6′ in length. As I stood watching them, they were working in a most beautiful system of harmony. It appeared as though one of the men was in charge of the work, but he was as actively engaged in the work as the others. There were no orders given, but each one [62] seemed to know exactly what to do. They were barring this great block of ore out of the side onto a flat trolley car. In their conversation, I learned that this block was a special block of ore to be used in the temple, or for its building as they said, “This block is for the temple.” While they were loading this block of ore, I walked along the west drift from which the nine rooms took off. I noticed the rooms were rather dusty, and I took my pocket knife and scraped some of the dust off the rock to see what was under the dust, and to my great surprise I found the rock full of little streamers of gold about the size of ordinary bailing wire.
After walking far enough to see about a half dozen rooms, I came back to where they were loading the block of ore on the trolley flat car. They had just completed loading it, and were running it out of the main tunnel, which tunnel came out of the mountain going west and apparently near or at the northwest corner of the ore body. This ended my manifestation. I don’t know where the tunnel came out to the surface.
In digging the main tunnel, the men were always asking, “when will we get to the “turndown?”
During these days Bishop was still living in Idaho. On one occasion, President Joseph F. Smith came to him in a dream and gave him special instruction about seeing that all the stock accounts were had on the books in perfect order so that he could give an account of all the stock belonging to the company and who owned it. He illustrated this by saying when a President of the Church was voted on by the Church membership, it was necessary to use the words, “We sustain President _______, whoever it may be, as Prophet, Seer, and Revelator.” He used this expression to illustrate it was just as necessary for the Bishop to have a full account of the stock as it was to use those words in voting for a President of the Church.
[63]Then he asked the Bishop if he would see to it that all this business was properly entered on the books, and the Bishop said yes.
President Joseph F. Smith went over this instruction three times very similarly as Jesus told Peter to “feed my sheep,” which the Bishop said he thought of at the time. Then President Smith said, “Now come with me,” and in a moment they were in the mine tunnel. President Smith said, “Now bring your men up here,” meaning to the turndown.
President Smith pointed out the spot and said, “Put a round of holes in here,” which the Bishop had the men do. Then they moved back a little space while the blast went off. Then they returned to the spot and shoveled out the rock from the hole the blast had made, and there was the soft ore revealed. Bishop Koyle got down on his knees and looked out of the tunnel and saw daylight outside, showing the tunnel had to be straight. President Smith said, “Does this satisfy you that you will get all the rest of it as has been shown to you just as definitely as you have found this soft ore?” Bishop Koyle said yes.
This ended the visitation or the dream.
* * * * *
* * *
*
[64] Chapter 4
A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF THE
KOYLE RELIEF MINE
by James R. Christianson
Another interesting account of the history of the Relief Mine was written by James R. Christianson for a BYU history class in May of 1957. His information was obtained from friends and relatives of Bishop Koyle, as well as from many other sources. (To save space, Appendices are not included.)
A Comprehensive Study of the
Koyle Relief Mine
by James R. Christianson
Preface
The object of this paper is to present in a clear, unbiased manner the story of the Koyle Relief Mine; or as it is more commonly called, the “Dream Mine,” and some of the people and facts associated with it.
Research has been of an impersonal nature. No attempt is made on the part of the researcher to project his feelings or attitudes for or against the mine, or incidents and personalities connected with its history.
One must, however, realize that pure objectivity in a project of this nature is hard to come by. In dealing with personalities as will be very much the case in this paper, it is only realistic to acknowledge that feelings, not of an objective [65] nature, will be wholly involved. This, however, should not distract from the aim of this paper which, as before stated, is to present as complete and unbiased a history as is possible in the time for and the required length of this paper.
Cooperation on the part of friends and relatives of Bishop John H. Koyle (Dream Mine founder and president) is greatly appreciated.
Introduction
The belief that every worthy member has a right to personal revelation in any of its varied forms, is a distinguishing feature of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In fact, the very foundation of this Church may be said to consist wholly of divine communication with God through various forms of revelation.
It is, therefore, not surprising that, with such a background, countless numbers of individual members make sincere and possible rightful claim to divine communication with an immortal or unearthly source. This fact has in most cases been to the advantage of the Church both individually and collectively. It has made for a tightly knit, obedient, and productive organization which has witnessed an enormous growth both physically and spiritually since its founding in 1830.
It has often been the case, however, that such revelations have caused disruptions in the Church and have been received contrary to an established order–this order being that the individual member may receive revelation for his own welfare or that of his family. But the right of revelation for the welfare of the Church as a whole is the right of the President of the [66] Church only.(1) Revelations received contrary to this, would, according to Latter-day Saint belief be out of harmony with the will of God.(2)
Many of the asserted revelations have been concerned with the financial welfare of the Church. The usual basis of this second type is the finding of vast amounts of wealth through divine guidance by some individual or group of individuals, the purpose of the discovery being the financial independence of the church, the redeeming and establishing of Zion in Jackson County, the bringing of aid and comfort to all worthy saints during the disastrous times to come, and the establishing of a gold standard at a time when the national and world standards are destroyed.
Following are a number of examples which illustrate the above:
In the mountainous area near Brigham City, Utah, is a mine, The Majestic, owned by Fredrick J. Holten.(3) As Apostle James E. Talmage,(4) reported, this mine is said to be similar to the Dream Mine, which will be discussed later. Mr. Holten, who is now 94 years old, states that he was directed by heavenly messengers to begin mining for gold at a specified place. The object of the mine was the use of its contained wealth for the purpose of making the Church in the Brigham City area self-sustaining. A form of the United Order was to be initiated and the city itself was to grow to be larger than Los Angeles, California. Holten makes claim to a personal
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(1) Doc. & Cov., Sec. 132:7.
(2) Ibid., Sec. 28:12-13.
(3) The mine is at present being worked by the son of Holten. Holten himself is in a rest home for the aged.
(4) Minutes of weekly mtg. of the General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Journal History,” Aug. 7, 1913, p. 4.
[67] visitation of the Savior who ordained Holten to receive a position of highest authority in the Church.(1) As before stated, Holten is now ninety-four years old and is blind. He is, however, surprisingly able physically and enjoys comparatively good health.(2)
A second and much better-known example is the Humbug Mines of Jesse Knight.(3) The Humbug is one of few and perhaps the only mining venture of this type that has as yet fulfilled its revealed destiny.
During the late 1800’s, Jesse had been prospecting along on the east side of Godiva Mountain in the Tintic, Utah, area. He sat down under a pine tree to rest when to his great surprise he heard a voice say, “This country is for the Mormons.” He felt that this message referred to mining in that area. Any benefits realized should be used to further the cause of Mormonism.(4)
In 1894 while they were working the Humbug Claim, Jesse told his son, “We are going to have all the money we want as soon as we are in a position to handle it properly. We will some day save the credit of the Church.”(5)
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(1) Interview with Norman Pierce, prominent stockholder in Koyle Mining Company, April 30, 1957.
(2) Ibid.
(3) A friend named Roundy, who in refusing to become associated with Knight’s claim, referred to it as a “damned old humbug.” This name stuck.
(4) J. William Knight, The Jesse Knight Family, (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1941), pp. 83-86.
(5) The Humbug was a success. Jesse continued to invest his money and eventually became a multi-millionaire. The mine required some twelve years of continual labor before it finally paid off in the latter part of 1896.
[68]Letters brought to light in 1930 show that Jesse in 1896 responded to a plea by President Woodruff who was calling on wealthy members to come to the aid of the Church, which at the time was in great financial need. He presented to the Church a check of $10,000. This was a literal fulfillment of the above prophecy. In later years, sums amounting to several hundred thousands of dollars were given the Church, by Knight from this mine.(1)
A third example is that of Ben Bullock, who in the year 1915, claimed to have received a heavenly visitation while plowing on his farm near Provo, Utah. Coming to the end of a furrow, Bullock relates that he suddenly became very weak, but he did not lose his senses. At this moment, many things concerned with his future were revealed to him. He saw that he would suffer as far as his standing in the Church was concerned, but he was not to become bitter.(2) He was to become the steward of great amounts of wealth, but only after losing all but his few mining interests. This wealth should be for the building up of the Kingdom of God and the gathering of the Saints to Zion. It would also be used to feed and house the Saints during times of famine. He saw a large, beautiful mountain which had not existed before, but which represented the great wealth he would eventually receive. He was told that if he was faithful, all of the above and many other things would come to pass.(3)
In 1921, on the night following his death, Jesse Knight appeared to Bullock and stated that Jesse’s mission had been
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(1) Knight, pp. 84-86.
(2) Bullock was in great financial need and was contemplating giving up his position as bishop. He received the impression, however, that he should remain. Nevertheless, he was released a short time later. This was at the time when to be bishop was to remain bishop for life.
(3) Ben Bullock, Personal History, unpublished history written during the 1930’s.
[69] to reveal the treasures of the earth and distribute them for the edification of the Church and its members. His mantle was now to rest upon Bullock whose mission would be even greater than that of Jesse’s. He should go through much trial and tribulation, even more than Jesse had gone through.(1)
Bullock has now spent forty-two years at his task. He has mining and oil claims in several of the western states. His main mine is the Bullock Tunnel, located in a canyon near Payson, Utah. This mine was located and work has progressed through the use of a “divining rod.” According to Bullock, he should strike the mother lode soon, perhaps even at the time of this writing.(2)
On the night of February 13, 1957, Bullock states that John H. Koyle appeared to him. After renewing their friendship, Koyle expressed dissatisfaction with the way his mine was being run, and said that Bullock was digging in the right place and would soon strike a very rich ore. He also stated that the chain of mountains to the southwest of Payson, Utah, was filled with great quantities of ore.(3)
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(1) Ibid.
(2) Pierce, interview, May 10, 1957.
(3) Certified statement made by Ben Bullock in the presence of witnesses on February 14, 1957. Note: This appearance seems to agree with what is called the Green Spot Dream of John H. Koyle. In this dream, Koyle claims to have seen himself with Bullock and a group of friends going up Water Canyon located near his mine. The group proceeded to go around the mountain side with horses while he and Bullock continued up the canyon on foot. They were forced to take cover from enemies who began firing at them from atop the ridge. As they approached the top, they came to a clearing which they must cross in order to reach a green spot on the other side which would furnish safety to them. Koyle warned Bullock of the danger, but he nevertheless broke from cover and reached safety just ahead of Koyle. Here they were welcomed by their friends who had gone around. A suggested meaning to this dream is that after much trial and peril, both would reach the desired goal of success. Bullock or Bullock’s tunnel would produce first, followed shortly thereafter by Koyle’s Dream Mine.
[70]With this as an introduction, we will now consider the history of the Koyle Relief Mine, which, according to an eminent sociologist, John H. Nelson, has caused the greatest social movement ever to exist within the body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.(1)
History of John H. Koyle–Founder and Former President of the Koyle Relief Mine
John H. Koyle was born August 14, 1864, in Spanish Fork, Utah. At the age of eight he went with his family to settle in Moapa Valley on the banks of the Muddy River about four hundred miles southwest of Spanish Fork. This was in answer to a call by the President of the Latter-day Saint Church, Brigham Young.(2)
At the age of nine, Koyle helplessly watched as his father was crushed beneath a rock slide. They were working on a mountain side in Spanish Fork Canyon when the accident occurred.(3)
Throughout his youth, Koyle was noted for his sensitive and deeply religious nature. He often made a point of reminding the other members of his family of their duty to God and the Church.(4)
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(1) Norman Pierce, “Relief Through a Dream Mine,” p. 26, personal collection of revelations of John H. Koyle written in narrative form, 1930-1957.
(2) Interview with Merrill Koyle, son of John H. Koyle, April 14, 1957.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Interview with Mrs. Ellen Rose Fillmore, sister of John H. Koyle, May 5, 1957.
[71]In 1884, at the age of 20, Koyle married Miss Emily Holt. He purchased a farm just south of Spanish Fork and for a number of years did quite well.
One night in 1886, Koyle had a dream in which he learned where a lost cow could be found. The next morning, he told his wife of the dream and stated that he would go see if the information given him was correct. Upon arriving at the place indicated, he saw the cow standing just as he had seen her in his dream.(1) This was the beginning of a long series of dreams, visitations, and inspired happenings.
Koyle reported that one day in 1890, while plowing in his fields, a voice spoke to him and asked him if he would go on a mission. Looking around but seeing nobody, he scratched his head in wonderment and continued his plowing. The same voice, in a somewhat more commanding tone, said again, “John, will you go on a mission?” He immediately answered, “Yes.”
He went directly home and told his family he had been called on a mission and had to do something about it although he had no finances at the time. Shortly thereafter, his bishop called by and asked him if he could go on a mission for the Church. He said he could. He rented his farm to support his wife and three children during his absence and sold a cow to provide funds for his journey to the mission field.(2)
During his mission, Koyle earned the profound respect of his fellow missionaries and his mission president, J. Golden Kimball, who became a life-long friend.(3)
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(1) Koyle, interview, April 28, 1957.
(2) Koyle, interview, May, 1957.
(3) Ibid.
[72]Just prior to his entering the mission field, two Mormon elders had been killed by enemies of the Church. The people were especially bitter about polygamy. On one occasion, Koyle and his companion were accosted by four men who placed them against a wall and were apparently going to shoot them. The leader of the group, an extremely large, red-whiskered man, did nearly all the talking and said to them, “Now tell us what you are doing with all our young girls that you’re taking to Utah and turning into polygamists.” Koyle began talking; and after an hour, the four men laid their guns aside and began arguing among themselves. The red-whiskered man was determined to go on with the killing, but about one o’clock or two o’clock in the morning, he started asking questions. Before morning, they were almost converted. They let Koyle and his companion go and told them that they had been misled and wished them well on their journey.(1)
On another occasion he wrote to his wife telling her of a dream wherein he was shown railroad men surveying a right-of-way through the middle of his farm. He asked his wife to confirm this. Just two days previous to receiving his letter, she had written him concerning this very problem. The letters had passed each other enroute.
He made this information a matter of prayer requesting that his farm might remain intact. The impression came that he should not worry for the route would be changed and his farm would not be harmed. Apparently this is what happened.(2)
After he came home from his mission, his farm was not very prosperous; so he peddled butter and cheese from Mercur to Tintic for about eight years. during this time, he received his
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(1) Koyle, interview, May 5, 1957]
(2) Pierce, p. 3. [73] revelation concerning his mine. In 1908 he was sustained as bishop of the Leland Ward, Nebo State of the LDS Church, and was released in 1913. In 1918 he went to Idaho where he ranched until 1925. During this time he spent four years as a bishop’s counselor.
An experience demonstrative of Koyle’s great faith occurred during his stay in Idaho. One day while tending his crops which were about ready for harvest, Koyle, accompanied by one of his boys, observed an electric storm of great proportion coming rapidly up the valley in their direction. Realizing that such a storm would mean total destruction of his harvest, Koyle knelt with his boy on the ditch bank and in mighty prayer, rebuked the storm and commanded that it change its course. To the utter amazement of the boy and the sincere expectation of Koyle, the storm changed its course and proceeded around the mountain on the side, leaving the ripened crops totally unharmed.(1)
In 1926 he spent a year in Nevada as foreman of a mine. He then returned to his mine in Spanish Fork and spent the remainder of his years managing and working it.
According to his son and others, Koyle, during his lifetime, made many predictions which were fulfilled and many that await fulfillment.(2)
In 1909 he foresaw the coming of World War I and that the 145th Field Artillery would be inducted but would at no time see combat. When news came in late 1918 that the 145th was being moved up, Koyle received much criticism. Nevertheless, he stuck by his prediction. It is now a matter of record
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(1) Koyle, interview, May 5, 1957.
(2) Note prophecies of Koyle in Appendix I.
[74] that the war ended on November 11, and the 145th, although on the front lines, saw no action. (1)
Koyle foresaw the Republican victory of 1928 but stated that the man riding the donkey would win in 1932 and continue to win, establishing an unprecedented record of successive victories at the pools. During this time the elephant would become sick and unable to regain its feet. One attempt after another would be made until eventually, after many years, the elephant would rise to its feet and remain on them for a number of years, but would then go down and the country with it. There would then follow an unprecedented period of war, confusion, turmoil, and national disaster.(2)
In August, 1942, while visiting a dentist to have his teeth repaired, Koyle stated that in three years from then, World War II would end. He told his family to make note of this, which they did.(3) It is now historical fact that on August 10, 1945, Japan surrendered and hostilities ceased.
On Thursday, April 17, 1948, Koyle was excommunicated from the Latter-day Saint Church on charges of insubordination to the rules and authority of the Church.(4) He was rather ill at the time and became much worse thereafter. This illness continued until May of 1949 when he was taken to the Payson City Hospital. On May 17, at the age of 84, Koyle died and was buried in the Spanish Fork Cemetery.(5)
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(1) Koyle, interview, May 5, 1957.
(2) Pierce, interview, May 7, 1957.
(3) Koyle, interview, May 5, 1957.
(4) The Deseret News, April 16, 1948, p. 6.
(5) The The Deseret News, May 19, 1949, p. 7.
[75]Since he never kept a diary or personal record of any kind, many of the visions and spiritual experiences of Koyle can no longer be accounted for. However, the one experience upon which all sources agree is the vision received in 1894 wherein the mine was revealed to him. On this subject, the following statement was made by Carter E. Grant in a letter to James E. Talmage on September 30, 1931.
I heard this story repeated by Brother Koyle in 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, and 1915, and many times since. One peculiar thing about Brother Koyle, he never crosses himself, repeating his dream with the same exactness as he did in the beginning. One would think he would change it or add to it, but he never has.
History of the Mine
One night during the month of August, 1894, a personage from another world appeared to Koyle in a dream and conducted him in the spirit to a mountain located to the east of his home. He was taken to a certain spot on the side of the mountain where the earth parted before them and they entered without any apparent resistance.(1)
As they proceeded through the mine, the messenger talked freely and explained the various formations and the runs as the excavation proceeded down through the mountain.(2) They followed a cream-colored leader which he was told would mark the line he should follow in the mine he was to open. At about a 1,400-foot level he was shown a tunnel he was to dig which would contact the original shaft. Continuing from this level for ninety to one hundred feet, they came to a capstone.
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(1) Letter from Bishop John F. Warner, nephew of John H. Koyle to James R. Christianson, April 20, 1957.
(2) Statement by Carter E. Grant to James E. Talmage, September 9, 1931, p. 1.
[76] This capstone was flat and about three feet in thickness and exceedingly hard. It was made known to him that when the actual mining operation reached this point, it would take almost a month to penetrate the stone.(1)
Beneath the capstone was a large body of rich, white quartz containing leaf gold. On this subject, Koyle one time stated, “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 us, too, if we also became lifted up in pride and hard-hearted, using this wealth for self-gratification only.”(2)
Continuing through this rich gold quartz for about 175 feet, Koyle and his companion came to what was the remains of an ancient Nephite tunnel which ran in a southwest direction and came out in Water Canyon.(3) Going down this tunnel for a short distance, he was shown into nine large rooms from which the ore had been mined. The pillars, standing in the middle of the rooms and supporting the roof, were filled with gold.(4) He was then taken out through the above mentioned tunnel, coming out in Water Canyon.
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(1) Pierce, p. 4.
(2) Pierce, p. 4.
(3) Note: Map, Appendix III
(4) Note: Koyle has oftimes stated that when the capstone is reached and penetrated that the value of stock will jump to $5.00 a share. This will continue for a period of nine months at which time the nine rooms will be entered and a single share of stock will be worth $1,000. During this nine-month period, first the side drift and then the winze will begin producing. By this time, complete harmony will exist between the Church and the operators of the mine.
[77]This experience was so impressed upon the mind of Koyle that he felt as though he had spent a lifetime working the tunnels shown him. He was also shown the great breaks back to the west where all formations, instead of tipping to the east, would reverse and tip to the west. These were near the end of the tunnel which was to be dug and two natural, parallel walls led directly from them over to a smooth, slick wall that dipped down to the capstone. If these formations were encountered, it would be a sure sign that the workmen would find the ore. Many other things were pointed out which would be signs of progress to him.(1)
The messenger talked with Koyle as one man talks to another. He was dressed in temple robes and seemed exceedingly anxious that all the details should be stamped firmly in Koyle’s mind. A promise of success was given according to his faithfulness.(2)
A number of visits were necessary before Koyle finally relented and began work on the tunnel. An incident which convinced him that he should do as instructed occurred when the messenger appeared for the third time. He pointed out the necessity of beginning immediately on the mine and pointing to an artesian well which Koyle’s neighbor was drilling said, “Tomorrow at twelve noon, they will strike a good flow of water and at 4:00 they will take the drill and rigging away. If this comes true, so also shall all that I have shown you about the mine come true. Now, will this be witness and testimony enough for you to begin this work?”(3) Koyle answered, “Yes.” According to Koyle’s wife, who had been instructed by Koyle to pay special attention to the well, the above happened just as
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(1) Note: Further signs shown Koyle by messenger, Appendix II.
(2) Pierce, p. 6.
(3) Koyle, interview, May 1957.
[78] the messenger said it would; so on September 3, 1894, accompanied by a close friend, Joseph Brockbank, he set out for the mountain and found the designated spot.(1)
“There,” said Koyle, “dig in that spot and if you do not find a cream-colored formation within three feet of the surface, then there is nothing to my dream.” (2)
The cream-colored rocky formation was encountered. This convinced them and on September 17, 1894, after staking out the necessary claims, work was started. (3)
On March 4, 1909, the Koyle Relief Mine was incorporated. Stockholders were John H. Koyle, with 13,000 shares; John H. Koyle, trustee, with 49,000 shares; George Hales, with 1,000 shares; John F. Beck, with 1,000 shares; B. F. Woodward, with 1,000 shares; and J. P. Creer, with 1,000 shares. There were 42,000 shares of treasure stock making a total of 114,000 shares. (4)
Twenty years went by and the shaft(5) was sunk some fourteen hundred feet. It was now a tremendous task to raise the muck to the surface through a series of eleven long windlasses. An even greater problem was caused by fast seeping water in the shaft. Accordingly, a tunnel was started which would cut below the shaft and drain the water from it.(6)
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(1) Koyle and Brockbank later stated that the spot seemed to have a halo of light above it. For many years a small monument designated the spot where the light appeared.
(2) Pierce, p. 6.
(3) Pierce, p. 6.
(4) “Articles of Incorporation,” Koyle Relief Mine, p. 2.
(5) Note: Map of mine, Appendix III.
(6) Note: Revelation on tunnel, Appendix IV.
[79]Work began on the tunnel on January 6, 1914.(1) On the following Saturday, January 10, 1914, Koyle was awake in his bed, contemplating a remarkable dream he had just had when suddenly a powerful vibrating influence came over him, lasting several minutes. It recurred twice more, causing him to rise up in bed. As he did so, two men dressed in gray clothes, having white hair and beards, one taller than the other, came stepping up to his bedside.
The shorter of the two did all the talking and declared that he and his companion were in charge of the mine, telling Brother Koyle that he had started the tunnel in the right spot and all that he had seen in his dream should be fulfilled. After outlining the future for nearly two hours, they departed, promising that both men and money would be provided according to his needs.(2) In later years Koyle made plain that these visitors were two of the three Nephites who chose to remain on the earth at the time of Christ’s visit to this continent.(3)
Six months after the appearance of the two Nephites, the Church brought pressure to bear and the mine was closed. It did not reopen again until September, 1920.(4)
As work was resumed, it was found that the timber in the original shaft had deteriorated to the extent that mining in the shaft would be dangerous; therefore, all efforts were put to the furthering of the tunnel which was about 200 feet long.
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(1) Map. Appendix III.
(2) Grant, statement, September, 1931.
(3) Book of Mormon, 3rd Nephi, Chap. 23.
(4) Koyle had stated that he was told by the Nephites that this would happen. They also told him that the same power which closed the mine would also open it. This reportedly happened. The Church allowed the mine to open on the basis that the running of it would not be through super-natural power.
[80]Just as Koyle predicted, so it has been reported, water was struck at about 300 feet.(1) At 1,300 feet the red-iron formation was encountered and 20 feet farther, the large white vein. At 2,000 feet, the odd-shaped vein, two inches on one side and eighteen inches on the other, which was to form their side drift was encountered. At 2,200 feet a stream of water burst forth which filled the ditch that Koyle had ordered dug the full length of the tunnel. At 3,000 feet the strata reversed to the west and the tunnel ran straight on between parallel walls that led to a slick, smooth wall which dipped downward and as expected will lead to the capstone, 100 feet below. At this point, one can kneel down and see daylight at the mouth of the tunnel.
By this time, many people had become interested in the mine and stock sales increased.(2) This continued for a while but as the years passed and no ore of value was produced, people began to doubt. However, in February, 1929, a platinum strike(3) was reported and the value of stock went to $5.00 per share.(4) Koyle felt that this boom would be only temporary and allowed only a few hundred shares to be sold.(5) A few months later when it did pass, Koyle gave those who bought stock, as many shares again as they had purchased.
In 1931 at an annual outing celebrating the 37th year since the founding of the mine, W. A. Jones, mine secretary,
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(1) Appendix II.
(2) My own grandfather became interested about this time and since he had no money, he traded his horse and wagon for several hundred shares. In later years when a member of his family had a large debt to pay, he sold furniture from his home rather than part with his stock. He is typical of many men in Spanish Fork who are not radical about the mine but who have a strange, lingering faith that it will some day produce.
(3) See map, Appendix III.
(4) Spanish Fork Press, February 28, 1929, p. 1.
(5) Ibid., March 17, 1929, p. 1.
[81] recalled prophecies of Koyle which showed that the time was near when the mine would begin producing. Property was mortgaged to the limit, cars and trucks the size of boxcars were on the highways, the mining industry was paralyzed and the four-year drought appeared to be in its first stages. All these signs were pointed out by Koyle as indicative of the time when the mine would come in.(1)
In August, 1932, the State Securities Commission called before it the leaders of the Koyle Mining Company to discover how it could operate without selling stock and without levying assessments.(2) Martin M. Larson, attorney for the company, explained that in 1926 when the state had denied him the right to sell stock, Koyle called his board of directors together and had them issue him 50,000 shares of special stock to be put in his own name. There was no law against selling personal stock.
Mr. Jones, company secretary, stated that there were about 275,000 shares outstanding held by about 1,300 stockholders. No stockholders meeting had been held since 1923, the last one having ended in some manner of unpleasantness.(3)
The mine was to be studied by a geologist and the company’s books were to be presented to the Commission.
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(1) Spanish Fork Press, September 30, 1931, p. 1.
(2) The The Deseret News, August 20, 1932, p. 8.
(3) Meetings were usually held each Thursday evening. Purpose of the meetings was to discuss progress in the mine and encourage the faith of the stockholders in the future of the mine. In this manner stockholders became acquainted with prophecies of the past church leaders which justify the mine. (See Prophecies of Church Leader, Appendix V.)
[82]On January 20, 1933, the Securities Board ordered an investigation of the Koyle Mining Company.(1) This was done because of the refusal of the company’s officers to surrender their accounts to the Board and also because of a report made by Fredrick J. Pack who had investigated the mine for the state.(2) Pack reported that the mine offered no encouragement whatsoever for the future. He condemned the enterprise on the basis of its geological and commercial features. He stated that seldom, if ever, had he seen a mining prospect so lacking in mineralization.
On January 24, 1933, Koyle answered Pack’s charges by showing proof of the productivity of the mine.(3)
The Securities Commission ordered a suit filed against the company for selling stock without permission. When the trial was held in the latter part of 1933, it was readily dismissed because key witnesses for the state changed their testimonies. Instead of accusing him, they defended Koyle and asked his forgiveness.(4)
Over the years, ore of many kinds had been taken from the mine. Values had been found but none in sufficient quantity to merit the refining and processing of the ores which contained them. Koyle maintained that theirs was a special ore that when heated by the current methods of processing, the precious metals contained therein disappeared in a black smoke. There was simply no plant that could handle it. So in July 1932, during the depths of the depression, he built and
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(1) The Deseret News, January 20, 1933, p. 1-B
(2) See statement of Carter Grant to Apostle Talmage concerning visit of Pack to the mine. (Appendix VI)
(3) See article, “Truth about the Dream Mine,” Appendix IX.
(4) Samuel W. Taylor, “Time and the Dream Mine,” Esquire, LXI, (November 1943), p. 106.
[83] equipped a concrete flotation mill at a cost of over $60,000.(1) The mill was paid for in full at the time of its building.(2)
In this same year Koyle felt that he should make preparations for the large grain bins which were to hold the millions of bushels of grain to be purchased with gold derived from the mine. Large tracts of land were surveyed, leveled, graded, and terraced; but although the plans were drawn up, the bins were never built.
In 1937, John Harper and his supporters, Gus Engelhardt and Jake Brakhage came to Utah and were directed to the mine by Carl Beuhner of Salt Lake City. They brought with them a new type processing plant which was the invention of Harper. The plant contained a new type solution which had the power of dissolving the metals contained in the ore. The metals previously reported to have disappeared in smoke could now be preserved. The plant was installed in the flotation mill which seemed to have been built to the exact specifications necessary to house it.(3)
Some ore was processed but the owners were soon influenced by prospects of greater returns elsewhere and left in 1938.
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(1) Samuel W. Taylor, “Time and the Dream Mine,” Esquire, LXI, (November 1943), p. 106.
(2) When asked where he got the money necessary to run his mine and build his mill, Koyle referred to the promise of the two Nephites in 1914 wherein they promised him all necessary funds and men for his project.
(3) Pierce, interview, April 23, 1957.
[84]In 1943, Koyle was certain that the time had finally come for the mine to produce.(1) He was now seventy-nine years old and had been working the mine for about forty-nine years. He had been shown in 1938 the exact spot where No. 5 tunnel would begin producing. What he had thought to be the sure signs had appeared during the thirties and he was convinced that it would not be long.(2)
He continued, however, to hold meetings and work the mine until he became too ill to do so. He died May 17, 1949.
The mine was closed after Koyle’s death and was not opened again until the summer of 1955. At this time, there appeared a man from Texas, Al Sinclair, who was thought by some, because of his knowledge of the mine, to be the third Nephite.(3) Under his direction, work was resumed at the mine and continued for a year and a half. Around Christmas time, 1956, it was again closed. During this period of a year and a half, three tunnels were dug at a point about 180 feet down in the winze.(4) Digging had to be done at this point since the
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(1) It seems Koyle was never certain when the mine would produce. John F. Warner relates, “My father went to the mine to work early in 1895. One week he had to stay home because Mother was ill. Uncle John came by and remarked, `We may strike it this week and you won’t be there.’ Many years later he told me that he never would strike the gold as long as the Church fought him on it.” Throughout the thirties, one of Koyle’s sons relates that the father was often exasperated because the mine did not come in as expected.
(2) Spanish Fork Press, January 7, 1947, p. 1
(3) Koyle claimed that the third Nephite should appear and aid in the bringing in of the mine but Sinclair was unsuccessful. He took a half-ton of ore back to Texas with him from which he manufactured acidless auto batteries with a liquid obtained by processing the ore. In a report of the stockholder’s meeting held May 14, 1957, this venture was reported a success and a second half-ton of ore was sent to Sinclair.
(4) See map, Appendix III.
[85] remainder of the winze was and still is filled with water and pumps could not sufficiently clear it. The purpose of these tunnels was to reach the rich vein of sacking ore supposedly located at the bottom of the winze, 275 feet below the main tunnel.(1)
At present, the only work done on the mine is the annual assessment which amounts to $8,800 per year.
Throughout its history, many obstacles have stood in the way of the progress of the mine. Lack of funds, lack of workers, and lack of machinery were constant inhibitors of advancement. These, however, were internal problems and were usually overcome. Chief opposition was of an external nature, coming from the State, the Church, and numerous individuals.
Opposition to the Mine
Individuals opposed to the mine usually have been those who never invested in the mine themselves but have seen others put all they owned into the project never to realize any benefits from it.(2) Many opposed the mine because of religious convictions and also because their church leaders opposed it and had instructed them to do the same. A special individual case is that of Peter C. Carlson, who from 1920 to 1926 managed the mine during the absence of Koyle. In 1931 he wrote a letter in which he denounced Koyle, the mine, and
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(1) Pierce, interview, May 10, 1957.
(2) It is a fact that many people invested all their savings and much of what they earned in the mine with the faith that it would soon produce and supply them with such quantities of wealth so they would be able to pay off whatever debts were incurred due to their mine investments. The mine did not produce. These people were unable to pay their debts and therefore lost much if not all of their possessions.
[86] all manifestations connected with it as being false; but if inspired, it was from the devil and not from God.(1)
By 1926, the state had taken a decided stand against the mine. The company was deprived of the right to sell stock and during the thirties was indicted in court for fraud and misrepresentation.(2)
The main opposition, however, came from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which Koyle was a member. During the early years of the mine, Koyle received the blessings of some church authorities both local and general. His stake president from whom he sought counsel said the mine was of God. When Koyle approached Apostle George T. Teasdale, the apostle told him, “God bless you, go ahead.” Council of Seventy J. Golden Kimball was a stockholder and a life-long friend of Koyle.(3)
In 1908, Koyle was set apart as bishop of the Leland Ward, Nebo Stake.(4)
By 1913, the authorities of the Church had heard many disturbing reports concerning the mine and the visions connected with it. Letters were written from the General
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(1) Letter written “To Whom It May Concern,” certified and signed by Peter C. Carlson, 1931, filed in the Church Archives in Salt Lake City.
(2) Deseret News, August 20, 1932, p. B-1.
(3) Koyle claimed that when the two Nephites appeared in 1914, they instructed him to furnish Apostle Kimball with 500 shares of stock even if he could not pay for it. Sometime later when Kimball asked to buy exactly that amount of stock, it is reported that Koyle handed him the certificate which he already had made out.
(4) Minutes of the weekly meeting of the General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Journal History,” 1908, May 31, p. 8.
[87] Authorities to Jonathan S. Page, president of the Nebo Stake of the Church, asking for full information concerning the mine which was located in that stake.
On August 2, 1913, the Presidency of the Church published the following statement:(1)
A WARNING VOICE
To Officers and Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: From the days of Hiram Page (Doc. & Cov., Sec. 28) at different periods there have been manifestations from delusive spirits to members of the Church. Sometimes these have come to men and women who because of transgression become easy prey to the Arch Deceiver. At other times these people who pride themselves on their strict observance of the rules and ordinances and ceremonies of the Church are led astray by false spirits who exercise an influence so imitative of that which proceeds from a divine source that even these persons who think they are “the very elect” find it difficult to discern the essential difference. Apparently Satan has transformed himself to be an “angel of light”. . . . All spiritual manifestations which are contrary to decisions of Church Authority are not from God, no matter how plausible they may appear. all direction and guidance for the direction of the Church will come through its head. Members should understand this.
All may receive inspiration for their own welfare and that of their families but anything in discord with revelation received by the head of the Church is unreliable.
No person has the right to induce his fellow members of the Church to engage in speculation or take stock in ventures of any kind or the specious
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(1) Deseret News, Church Section, August 2, 1913, p. 1.
[88]claims of divine revelation or visions or dreams, especially when it is in opposition to the voice of recognized authority, local or general.
We feel it our duty to warn the Latter-day Saints against mining schemes which have no warrant for success beyond the professed spiritual manifestations of their projectors and the influence gained over the excited minds of their victims. We caution the Saints against investing money or property in claims of stock which bring no profit to anyone but those who issue and trade in them.
Financial schemes to make money for the alleged purpose of redeeming Zion or providing means for the salvation of the dead or other seemingly worthwhile objects should not deceive anyone acquainted with the order of the Church and will result only in waste of time and labor which might be devoted now to doing something tangible and worthy and of record on earth and in the heavens. The councils of the Lord through the channel he has appointed will be followed with safety; therefore, o’ ye Latter-day Saints, profit by these words of warning.
/s/ Joseph F. Smith
/s/ Anthon H. Lund
/s/ Charles W. Penrose
On August 7th an answer to the letters written to President Page of the Nebo Stake and his counselors on April 22nd and July 19th in regard to Bishop Koyle and his connection with the Dream Mine was discussed in a meeting of the General Authorities of the Church. President Joseph F. Smith suggested that President Francis M. Lyman be responsible to see that the Nebo Stake Presidency do their duty by releasing Bishop Koyle as Bishop of the Leland Ward, because of his connection with the Dream Mine.(1)
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(1) Minutes of weekly meeting, “Journal History,” August 7, 1913.
[89]On August 16th, the article of August 2nd by the First Presidency was reproduced in The Deseret News under the heading of “Dream Mines.”(1) It was accompanied by the following article:
Owing to the importance of the subject treated in the letter of the First Presidency to the officers and members of the Church which appeared in The Deseret News of August 2nd of this year, it is reproduced at the head of this column. We trust the Saints generally will profit by the advice given, and in order to bring it to the attention of all members, it might well be to cause the letter to be read in ward meetings or stake conferences or other similar gatherings of the people.
The First Presidency warns the Saints against investing in worthless stock, even if promoters allege that they are guided by dreams and revelations. It is a timely warning. Almost everyone has heard stories of how such and such found a rich mine by following directions given in a dream, and many fondly hope for similar luck, but in most instances, it will be found on investigation, that such stories have little or no foundation in fact. They belong to a class where rumors which like the wind, “bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound hereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth.” No one should be guided by such rumors but by reason enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
It is a safe rule not to accept the counsel of anyone who is in any way antagonistic to those who have been duly appointed to lead and guide Israel. And it will be found that the promoters of “dream mines” and vision enterprises generally are of that class. They find fault and pass judgment without justification. But by that very fact they warn the Saints to steer clear of them, just as the ringing or whistling of buoys during foggy weather call attention of mariners to the presence of danger by the noise they make.
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(1) Deseret News, Church Section, August 16, 1913, p. 1.
[90]On August 24th, during the Nebo Stake Conference, Koyle was released as bishop of the Leland Ward by Apostle Lyman, and Lars Peter Larsen was ordained in his stead.(1)
The following is a statement by Carter Grant made to Apostle James E. Talmage on September 9, 1931:
Brother Grant stated that from his investigations he found that Brother John H. Koyle, and the directors and the secretary of the company, in June 1914, were called before Stake President Jonathan S. Page of the High Council of Nebo Stake and that his action was taken by the direction of President Joseph F. Smith, then President of the Church. Brother Koyle told Brother Grant that at the High Council meeting referred to, the President of the Stake, Brother Page, told Brother Koyle that he had to close the mine down or lose his fellowship in the Church in accordance with statements made by President Joseph F. Smith in his letters to President Jonathan S. Page. Brother Koyle stated that he asked President Page for time and that he be allowed to come to Salt Lake City, Utah, with President Page and relate his entire story to President Joseph F. Smith.
Then Brother Koyle asked Pres. Page for a statement of the charges against him so that he would know against what he had to defend himself. Brother Koyle stated that the letter from President Joseph F. Smith was then read in which the statement was made that Brother Koyle had stated that he was going to redeem all the dead, and that he was going back to build up Jackson County, Missouri. The third charge or specification against Brother Koyle was not stated by Brother Grant as he could not remember it, but the fourth he remembered well and that was to this effect: That Brother Koyle intended to increase the capital stock of the company and sell out and make himself
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(1) Minutes of weekly meeting, “Journal History,” August 24, 1915, p. 6. It is said that the members voted 100% to retain Koyle as Bishop.
[91]independently rich. These charges Brother Koyle denied, and asked for the privilege of seeing President Joseph F. Smith himself.
He was told that his request would be granted thereupon the High Council was dismissed. President Page later came to see President Smith according to Brother Grant, and President Smith stated that he did not wish to or care to meet Brother Koyle or talk with him about the Dream Mine in any phase whatsoever but that he must close the mine and not sell any more stock or do any more work on the hill or he would be disfellowshipped.(1)
In July, 1928, at the Nebo Stake Conference, Apostle James E. Talmage denounced all stock-selling schemes in which the stock is sold with the idea that the enterprise is being directed by supernatural means, naming in particular the Koyle Mine or “Dream Mine” as it is generally called. He urged members of the Church to have nothing to do with such enterprises. He stated that he had gone through the Koyle Mine some twelve years earlier by appointment of the First Presidency and at that time pronounced the property worthless. He was asked at the time if he was speaking as an apostle or a geologist. He declined to answer at first but upon being pressed, emphatically declared that he spoke as an apostle and in the name of God.
He then said, “I say to you that the misrepresentations which have been made in selling the stock of the Koyle Mine are of the Evil One. I come to you as a representative of the Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve to warn you against it. I warned the owners in the name of the Lord and as his Apostle that it is barren and always will be.”
“The Church will not close this mine or any other mine or enterprise that is legal because the Church will not interfere
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(1) Grant, statement, September 9, 1931, p. 3.
[92] with private interests; but the Church will take a decided stand against anybody who tries to induce others to buy stock on the representation that angels of God have revealed these things and that the proceeds are to be used for the building up of the Church. Don’t raise your hand to sustain the prophets of the Lord and authorities of the Church unless you are willing to follow their counsel and advice. If ever there was a day when the Church was led by the gift of revelation, it is this day. The authorities are not asking you to do anything that they are not doing themselves. They are leading and asking the membership to follow.”(1)
The Church said very little about the mine for the next 17 years. In 1944, there was an increase in activity at the mine. By now the number of stockholders had increased to some 6,000 with about 600,000 shares distributed among them.
The statement of the First Presidency as published August 2, 1913, in The Deseret News, was republished as a renewed warning to the members on December 29, 1945. It was signed by the President of the Church, George Albert Smith, J. Reuben Clark, and David O. McKay.(2)
In September 1946, an editorial appeared in the Church Section of The Deseret News in answer to inquiries as to whether or not the Church had changed its stand on the Koyle Mine and if Brother Talmage had admitted he was mistaken in what he had said about the mine.(3)
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(1) Spanish Fork Press, July 19, 1928, p. 1
(2) Deseret News, Church Section, December 29, 1945, p. 1
(3) Koyle reportedly made the statement that after Apostle James E. Talmage’s death, Talmage appeared to him and admitted that he had been wrong about the mine and asked Koyle to forgive him. This Koyle did. At the time Talmage openly opposed the mine, Koyle is quoted as saying that the time would come when Talmage would admit that he was wrong and ask Koyle’s forgiveness. It is possibly the report of this incident that caused the above-mentioned inquiries.
[93]Again the members were warned against investing in enterprises such as the Koyle Mine. A statement by Brother Talmage in which he renewed his stand against the mine was published in The Deseret News, May 14, 1928. The findings of Doctor Fredrick J. Pack, the geologist, were again presented and members were admonished to follow the counsel of the authorities in this matter.(1)
On January 7, 1947, Koyle was called before the President and High Council of his stake where a formal trial was held. All claims made in the past with respect to the mine were reviewed. As a result of this trial, Koyle signed a statement repudiating all divine claims with respect to his mine.(2) He accepted fully and completely the stand of the First Presidency regarding the mine and retracted all statements he had made in which he said the First Presidency was mistaken concerning this mine. He pledged complete support of the leaders of the Church in all things and asked his followers to do the same.(3)
This move by Koyle completely shocked his thousands of followers. The general feeling, however, soon existed that Koyle did not agree with what he had signed and had only done so in order to retain his membership in the Church. Members of the mine leadership were soon pressing him to resume the holding of meetings and the taking care of an active part in the leadership of the mine.(4)
Supposedly against his better judgment, Koyle accepted this counsel and was soon holding meetings contrary to the orders of the Church. As a result of this, the First Presidency
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(1) Deseret News, Church Section, September 7, 1946, p. 1.
(2) See signed statement by Koyle, Appendix VII.
(3) Deseret News, January 8, 1947, p. A-1.
(4) See note in miscellaneous bibliography.
[94] felt that action should be taken, and Apostle Mark E. Petersen was sent to Spanish Fork to help conduct the excommunication proceedings.
The charges against Koyle were:(1)
1.Holding meetings wherein prayers were said, testimonies were borne, and the sacrament was passed.
2.Receiving revelation for the welfare of the Church.
3.Continuing activity at the mine and holding meetings after stating that he would not do so.
On April 1, 1948, the trial was held and Koyle was excommunicated from the Church. The following article appeared in The Deseret News on the day following the trial:
John H. Koyle of Spanish Fork, Utah, was excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last night on a charge of insubordination to the rules and authority of the Church.
Action was taken by the Presidency and High Council of the Palmyra Stake in a meeting held at the stake offices in Spanish Fork.(2)
At the time of the trial, Koyle was a very sick man and had to be carried into the room where the trial was held. Throughout the trial, he had little to say and there was much feeling for him among those present. As judgment was passed, however, Koyle rose to his feet and in a loud, angry voice called down the judgments of heaven upon those trying him. After this outburst, it is reported that all feeling of sympathy towards him disappeared.(3)
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(1) Ibid.
(2) The Deseret News, Friday, April 16, 1948, p. B-1.
(3) Note–Miscellaneous.
[95]After his excommunication, Koyle became sick both in body and spirit. He had lost the thing most precious to him–his membership in the Church.
In May 1949, he was taken to the Payson Hospital with a heart attack and died there on May 17, 1949.
Since Koyle’s death, active opposition to the mine has ceased. Nevertheless, the condemning words of the prophets and apostles during the past fifty years still stand and will continue to do so in the future.(1)
Summary
From 1894 until his death in 1949, John H. Koyle fought a continual mental battle with himself. He was a devout Latter-day Saint. All of his thirteen children were brought up as firm believers in Latter-day Saint doctrine. His testimony meant more than anything else to him; nevertheless, he could not deny the many things which he had seen and experienced. As his sister one time stated, “John didn’t know what to do. He wanted to obey the authorities, yet he could not deny what had been revealed to him. We all felt sorry for him.”(2)
This same conflict has been and still is experienced by most Dream Mine followers. Facts show that with but few exceptions, these people were members in good standing with the Church. Opposition of the church to the mine and the excommunication of Koyle has caused most stockholders to take a “wait and see” attitude. Bitter feelings toward the Church are in most cases non-existent. In fact, many hold
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(1) In opposition to this, Koyle is quoted as saying that there will come a time when the Church and the mine leaders will be in perfect harmony. At this time, the mine will begin to produce.
(2) Fillmore, interview, May 5, 1957.
[96] responsible positions in the Church and take the attitude that the Church comes first in their lives. The prevailing feeling among stockholders seems to be that if Koyle was really directed from God, then everything will work out as it should. If his work was not from God, then he will be punished, but not severely since he believed in complete faith and sincerity that his was a work ordained of God.(1)
Marion Boyer of Springville, Utah, long-time friend of Koyle and a steadfast member of the Church, had this to say in regard to the relationship of the Church and the mine:
If the mine is God-inspired, then the stand taken by the Church is a wise one. Since the Church had to take some view, whether positive or negative, on so controversial an issue, it was to the advantage of the mine when it took a negative stand. Had the Church sanctioned the mine, then stock would have been bought by many thousands of fortune-seeking members, who, desirous of immediate returns, would never have had the patience and faith which the now more than sixty years would have required of them. Under such conditions, the mine could never fulfill its destiny. If the mine is not of God, then the stand of the Church was a necessary and correct one.
The Dream Mine has been no rich man’s folly. Koyle started digging a poor man and he died a poor man. He went through many years of persecution and ridicule for a dream that for him never came true.
His wife, when asked whether the whole thing had not been an ordeal for her, had the following to say:
I have wished many times, and so have the children, that John had never had a dream about the mountain and the ore. For years now, we have had
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(1) Note—Miscellaneous.
[97]people coming to our house at all hours, eager to learn all about the latest details. Some believe while others ridicule.(1) It’s been no fun, I can tell you. The children have been laughed at in school. The state is trying to close the mine. The authorities of the Church are preaching against it. They have released John twice from Church offices he held; and altogether we have had about all we can stand. Still we don’t hold any feelings against anyone, for it does look ridiculous and unbelievable all right. I guess I wouldn’t believe it either if I didn’t see so many things coming true that John predicts.(2)
The mine is known throughout most of the western states and is a topic worthy of argument wherever it is discussed. The lives of many thousands have been and continue to be affected by it.
Very little material has ever been published about the mine. Several articles are now being written for publication, but they are being held back until the success of the mine is evident. A number of poems have been composed about the mine but have never been published.(3)
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(1) A well-known story which illustrates this point is told of a man who was prone to drink to excess. One day during the prohibition era he was being shown the mine by Brother Koyle. All points of interest were shown him, and as they came out of the tunnel, Koyle asked, “Well, brother, what do you think of it?” Looking down from the mouth of the tunnel one has a complete view of the valley below. Pointing to the vast fields of ripening grain in the valley, the man answered, “See those fields of grain down there? See that fine stream of water you have here? I think that with that grain down there and this water up here, your mine would be a wonderful place for a whiskey still.” Koyle said, “Brother, you don’t have the spirit.” The man answered, “I would if I had a still up here.”
(2) Pierce, p. 15.
(3) See poems in Appendix IX.
[98]What the future of the mine will be, no one can say. If, however, one accepts Koyle as a prophet, then the future of the mine is a certainty.
One day, a day in the not-to-distant future according to some,(1) the Koyle Relief Mine will become the richest mine in the world. This will be a day of famine and starvation, halted transportation, and great confusion throughout the land. The United States Government will be forced off the gold standard and the mine will help meet its demands.(2) Enormous grain bins will be built at the mine and filled with an abundance of grain for the preservation of the Saints. A bank will be built at the mine which supposedly will be the only one existing in the United States. At the foot of the mountain near the mine, a beautiful white city will be built. It will be a model city in which the United Order will be practiced. Only the pure in heart will be permitted to live in this city, and from it will the Saints be sent to Jackson County, Missouri, to build up Zion, the new Jerusalem.(3)
In regard to the above, we can refer to the statement of a man closely connected to the mine, “If it is of God, then it will produce and all will be fulfilled. If not, then it will eventually die as did its founder. Either way we can do nothing but wait and see.”(4)
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(1) Note–Miscellaneous
(2) Marion Boyer, personal interview, April 30, 19_7. Mr. Boyer relates that just before Koyle died, they were riding together in a car. Koyle made the statement that the time would come when the mine would help the U.S. Government meet financial obligations.
(3) Pierce, interview, May 10, 1957.
(4) Note–Miscellaneous.
[99] Chapter 5
FULL DREAMS AND EMPTY MINES
by John R. Christiansen
The following article was printed in a magazine called Mountain West (Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 26-30), which was published monthly in Provo, Utah.
Full Dreams and Empty Mines
by John R. Christiansen
As you travel near Spanish Fork in south Utah County and look eastward toward the mountains, the mill can be seen quite easily. In fact, it can be seen from as far away as Provo. The long, white, concrete structure seems to cling tenaciously to the mountainside. Scattered beneath it are other, more conventional buildings, and below them are terraces which are now being developed into fruit orchards and grain fields.
This singular view has likely sparked many conversations among people traveling by, such as:
“Daddy, what is that white building up there on the mountain?”
“Where, son? Oh, over there. Why that’s the Dream Mine.”
“The Dream Mine? What’s that?”
“Well, son, I’m not too sure, but some man had a dream about there being a lot of gold in that mountain, so he started up there to get it out.”
“No kidding, dad? Did he get the gold?”
“Well, I really don’t know, but I don’t think so.”
[100] While some people know more about the “Dream Mine” than this father, many people know even less. For instance, how many people know that the Dream Mine may have been the largest cooperative movement in the history of Utah? Yet, though operated mostly by Mormons, the mine was never officially sanctioned by the Mormon Church. In fact, the Church generally disapproved of it for many years.
Likewise, how many people know that the fantastic mix of fact and folklore that is the Dream Mine Story centers on the religious dreams of an unassuming farm boy from Spanish Fork? To be sure, the orthodox Mormon theology that provided the basic values of that boy, John H. Koyle, had a visionary basis. Scriptural as well as contemporary stories reinforced his own experiences. The boy believed and viewed as a model the biblical story of Joseph who was sold into Egypt. Young Koyle knew that Joseph was able to interpret the Pharaoh’s dreams and had implemented a “welfare program” to provide food for Egypt’s population during a seven-year famine.
In addition, Koyle’s contemporary, Jesse Knight, had also experienced spiritual manifestations through dreams which resulted in fame and riches. That happened in 1896, just two years after John Koyle received his first spiritual manifestation. Through the information provided by it, Knight located a mine site near Eureka, sank a shaft, and struck a rich ore body which he immediately and appropriated named the “Humbug Mine.” This rich glory hole raised him from being a pauper with less than $100 to one of the most wealthy men in the Tintic Mining District. News of this and subsequent fabulous mining finds of Jesse Knight were the talk of the West, including, of course, Spanish Fork, located just 35 miles to the east.
[101] Not lost on the keen and impressionable mind of John Koyle was the fact that “Uncle Jesse’s” successful mining ventures made him an even more respected and valuable member of the Mormon Church. He was reputed to have been the largest tithe-payer in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for many years. His generous contributions to Brigham Young University enabled that school and many of its students to survive financial crises. An exemplary Mormon in other ways, too, Knight built a 65-home town on a flat near the Humbug Mine. It was without a saloon. He also encouraged his employees, most of whom were Mormons, to attend church by closing the mine on Sundays. To keep their pay up with the surrounding miners, he paid them more during the week. This generosity and strict adherence to religious values were thought of as eccentricities in the mining world, but throughout the Mormon Church “Uncle Jesse” became famous as a man who followed the admonition to live “in the world, but be not of it.” John Koyle’s life was to parallel that of Jesse Knight’s in many ways, but to differ from it tragically as well.
But what about John Koyle’s dream and the Dream Mine? In August 1894, Koyle received the dream which was to change his life and that of many others. Over the years, Koyle related to thousands of people that a personage dressed in white and radiating light appeared to him in a dream. This person conducted him in spirit to the mountain where the mine is now located. He was conducted to a certain elevation on the mountain side where the earth parted before them and they entered into the mountain without any apparent resistance. The geologic features of the mountain’s interior were explained to him in considerable detail by the radiant personage. Moreover, the riches of the mountain were described as being known to ancient people as well.
[102] His radiant guide led Koyle into the mountain and explained to him how he would find the rich ore inside the mountain. The route Koyle was to follow paralleled a cream-colored vein. This “leader” vein continued more than a thousand feet to a very hard “capstone” layer of stone covering a large body of rich white quartz containing leaf gold. Beneath this ore body were nine large rooms from which the ore had already been mined by ancient inhabitants of this land–Nephites. Koyle related that large pillars were in these rooms. Their roofs were filled with gold, and were beautifully carved and engraved. There was other gold inside the rooms, both bulk and coined, and there were implements and relics left there, as well as precious records containing the word of God in great power.
From these rooms Koyle recounted that he was taken southwest through a steep tunnel that had been made by the same ancients. This tunnel came out in Water Canyon, which is the first large canyon south of the mill. From this canyon, the remains of an ancient Nephite highway running south in a huge crescent over to the point of Payson Canyon were shown Koyle.
The role that the mine would play in his own life, in the lives of others, and the Mormon Church were impressed upon Koyle during that first dream. The mine would be richer than anything like it in the whole world. However, the big deposits of valuable ore he had seen would not be reached and released until a time of great world-wide crises. Then the people and the Mormon Church would be sorely in need of relief. The mine would then be called “The Relief Mine.”
In September of 1894 work began on the mine as directed in spiritual manifestations received after the first dream. Koyle and others claimed to find evidence of the [103] veracity of the visions through the discovery of the prophesied “cream-colored leader.” Immediately, eighteen mining claims were staked in the Eldorado Mining District of Utah County, Utah. The names given the claims were Relief Number One, Relief Number Two, and so on through eighteen.
Following the spread of the news that Koyle’s claim to a fantastic “dream mine” had been supported by the discovery of a vein, people began coming to the Koyle property and listening to his remarkable account. When the first major excavation was to begin, therefore, it was not difficult to locate sufficient men to help in uncovering the alleged riches.
During these early years, the mine was not incorporated and no stock or interest sold. It was assumed that the volunteer workers would be treated as Koyle’s partners. It was apparent that Koyle expected the mine to begin producing at a very early date. A statement indicating this optimism was made by his nephew, John F. Warner, who said:
My father went to the mine to work in 1895. One week he had to stay home because mother was ill. Uncle John Koyle came by and urgently remarked, “We may strike it this week and you won’t be there.” Of course they didn’t strike it.
And they had not “struck it” by 1909 when it became evident that the few men who remained working at the mine would not be able to continue the work. These workers had received no returns from their efforts, and more men and money were necessary if the work were to continue. Therefore, on March 4, 1909, the Koyle Mining Company was incorporated. John H. Koyle was listed as president and director of the corporation and given 13,500 shares. He was also listed as trustee with 49,500 shares. Other faithful workers were given positions and shares, and 42,000 shares of [104] treasury stock were put up for sale with a par value of $1.00 per share.
It would seem that in such a speculative venture, 42,000 shares of treasury stock and whatever personal stock the owners wanted to sell would be difficult to market. This was not the case. With the promise of immediate returns quoted as high as 750 to 1, the available stock still sold fast. Soon the amount of treasury stock was increased to 114,000 shares, and sold. Stock salesmen went from door to door in some places.
By this time interest in the mine had spread throughout the state. Persons from Logan, Ogden, and Salt Lake City, and other communities traveled to the mine and listened to the remarkable orations of its founder. Prospective stockholders were encouraged to obtain at least one hundred shares of stock at $1.50 per share. It was expected that the value of a single share would go up to $1,000, and just one hundred shares would be enough to sustain a family.
By December 1913, the shaft was 1,400 feet deep. Progress had become slow and difficult. The narrowness of the long shaft, its length (which required eleven windlasses to lift each bucket), and water seeping into it made the work slow and arduous. It was decided to drive a tunnel horizontally into the mountain to connect with and drain the near-vertical shaft. Ignoring advice from geologists and others, Koyle ordered that the tunnel be started at a place he had seen in another dream. Tunnel work began according to Koyle’s instructions.
On January 10, 1914, Koyle declared that he had been visited by two personages in an unusual dream. These people–later identified by Koyle as two of the “Three Nephites”–affirmed that the new tunnel had been started correctly, and that all he would see in the dream would be fulfilled. The first [105] half-hour of the dream dealt with the operation of the mine, and indicated that opposition from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) could be expected. The remaining one and a half hours of the dream, Koyle stated, contained information which should be given only to the First Presidency, the highest leadership body of the Mormon Church.
Six months after the appearance to Koyle of the “two Nephites,” a part of the dream was fulfilled. The Mormon Church brought pressure to bear on the mine owners and all operations ceased. These pressures were exerted for two reasons: First, Koyle claimed to receive revelations not only concerning himself and the mine, but for the affairs of others. Second, some of Koyle’s revelations had linked the future of the LDS Church to that of the mine. Not opposed to personal revelations among its members, the Church did oppose revelations which extended into areas where individuals were not authorized to administer.
The mine remained inoperative for about five years. Then the LDS Church, in 1920, granted a request by the Koyle Mining Company to permit persons to operate it without jeopardizing their Church membership. To do this, the operation was to be conducted as any normal mining venture, exclusive of supernatural allegations. So, mining continued. At no time, however, did appreciable amounts of valuable ore ever come out of the shaft or tunnel. The only rewards received by the faithful were the occasional fulfillments of Koyle’s continued prophecies.
However, in 1929 the faithful were rewarded, and the skeptics silenced, even though briefly. The Spanish Fork Press announced that the mine’s operators had struck platinum! J.W. Warf, company assayer, had determined that ore samples brought from a side drift contained three-tenths [106] percent and more in platinum. The report thrilled Koyle. His years of waiting were over–the mine had “come in.” Such was the demand of the stock that a single share sold for $5.00. About the time all available stock had been sold, however, reports were received indicating that the original assay estimates were incorrect. Trying to be fair, Koyle gave an additional share of stock for each one the speculators had purchased during the boom.
The quick boom and bust left even more people disillusioned in Koyle and his dreams, yet, there followed a series of prophecies from him which renewed the faith of the believers. Among these included a prophecy concerning the stock market crash of 1929. With the money generated by the fulfillment of this prophecy, the white flotation mill, so readily visible on the mountainside was built. However, one disappointment at the mine followed another. At least twice, expensive equipment was installed to process promised high grade ore, but again the ore proved to be low grade.
By 1944, these repeated failures had left “the old bishop”–as Koyle was called by close associates–exasperated. He was now 80 years old and had been trying to “bring the mine in” for 48 years. It had become increasingly difficult to convince people that his dreams were true. Many once loyal and prominent supporters had renounced their belief in the mine, and some even denounced Koyle and fellow operators as charlatans.
The most disastrous blow to Koyle, however, concerned his standing in the Mormon Church. Earlier, in 1913, Koyle was released from his Church position as Bishop of the Leland Ward. This release followed the publication of a statement called “The Warning Voice” by President Joseph F. Smith, then President of the Church. This statement presented the Church’s position on the Dream Mine. Part of it read:
[107]
No person has the right to induce his fellow members of the Church to engage in speculations or take stock in ventures of any kind on the serious claim of divine revelation or vision or dream, especially when it is in opposition to the voice of recognized authority, local or general.
Although released as bishop, Koyle was still a member of the Church, and seemingly took the release in stride.
Repeatedly during the years following, however, the LDS Church issued statements concerning the mine, and some of its highest officials presented sermons regarding it as well. These statements were unequivocal in their denunciation of the spiritual basis of the mine. Nevertheless, many of those closely connected with the mine seemed somewhat oblivious to these warnings, and continued to promote the sale of stock based on excitement generated by the successful predictions made by “the old bishop” from time to time.
On January 7, 1947, Koyle was called before local Church authorities and a formal Church court was held. Reportedly, he was informed that he would have to either repudiate his divine claims regarding the mine, support the stand of the First Presidency regarding it, and retract all statements wherein he said the Church leadership was mistaken concerning him and his work, or be excommunicated from the LDS Church. Faced with the ultimatum, Koyle signed a prepared statement indicating his willingness to conform to the required conditions.
However, misunderstandings connected with the trial further embittered “the old bishop” and his loyal followers. It was not long before he ignored the request made of him. Weekly meetings, called “testimony meetings” by detractors, were again held at the mine and activities proceeded at an accelerated rate. Thus, on April 1, 1948, another trial was held [108] in Spanish Fork and the ultimate disciplinary power of the LDS Church was exercised. Koyle was excommunicated. On the day following the trial, The Deseret News reported the incident, and stated that the action was taken for insubordination to the rules and authority of the Church.
Following his excommunication, Koyle continued to take an active part in the mine’s operations. But he rapidly became a disheartened and broken man. Early in 1948 he contracted an illness which led to his death on May 17, 1949.
Shortly following the death of its founder and namesake, the Koyle Mining company was closed. Except for the care-taker and an occasional trespasser, the next six years of the mine’s history consisted of work done on the annual $8,000 assessment assigned to the property.
In 1961, however, a new corporation was formed. “The Relief Mine Company” was organized with Quayle Dixon, a faithful follower of Koyle, as president. Old stock was exchanged and new stock issued. The officers of the new company appear to generally follow and believe in the goals and aspirations of “the old bishop,” but are careful to limit themselves to activities perceived by the Mormon Church as acceptable. Assessment work is being carried out, together with some further exploratory mining and farming on the increasingly valuable land. A new office has been built next to the vacant home built by the old company for John H. Koyle.
Today some of the more than 8,000 stockholders of the Relief Mine Company view the lengthening years since Koyle’s first dream, the empty mine shafts and tunnel, the rusting tracks and mine cars, and the ever-present mine assessments as increasing proof that “the old bishop” was indeed deluded.
[109] On the other hand, many of the faithful perceive the world’s troubled condition as fulfillment of Koyle’s prophecies, and each passing year as bringing them just that much closer to the time when the mine will “come in.” For them, that time is close at hand . . . very, very close.
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[110] Chapter 6
UTAH VALLEY’S DREAM MINE
YIELDS A 24 KT. CONTROVERSY
by Monte Bona
This article was printed in Monday Magazine, Monday, January 13, 1975, pp. 16-17.
Utah Valley’s Dream Mine
Yields a 24 Kt. Controversy
by Monte Bona, Monday Magazine writer
A crisp, wintery wind cuts through the sage brush and briskly works its way from Salem to Payson, Utah. Norman Pierce, gray hair tousling in the wind, sport jacket flapping like a ship’s sails, points his finger at the farmland terrain. “There’s where the old Nephite highway ran from the Dream Mine to the smelter over in Payson Canyon,” he says.
Pierce, a former school teacher and author of a book called The Dream Mine Story, is just one of many people who for the past seven decades have been fascinated by Utah County’s so-called Dream Mine. In recent months, however, interest in the mine has taken on new dimensions with links to gold, the dollar’s decline and, yes, space ships and legends of the Hopi Indians.
Where did it all begin? It started near the turn of the century with the dream of John Koyle. Koyle, Spanish Fork’s man of predictions, had established himself long before anyone had heard of Jeanne Dixon, or most folks in Spanish Fork [111] knew the meaning of ESP. Bishop Koyle–he served as an LDS bishop in Spanish Fork for many years–often had visitors at his door who wanted to know about a son’s well-being in the trenches of France, or the future of the economy during the dark days of the Depression. His dream about the Mine in the hills of Salem, however, led to his being accused of fraud and deception and his ultimate excommunication from the LDS Church.
What were the details of this dream which carried so heavy a penalty? Koyle claimed to have received precise information about the location of a rich lode in the mountains near Salem, Utah. This ore, Koyle declared, was located in an ancient mine tracing back to the Nephites of the “Book of Mormon.” Koyle said he had seen in a vision nine large rooms from which the ore had been mined. In these rooms, he claimed, was gold, both mined, refined and coined.
From 1894 to the present, Koyle’s Dream Mine, from time to time, has been the center of debate. Indeed, there has been much controversy, but no gold. Thousands of people bought stock in the Mine. Some believed in Koyle’s prophecies, not only about the Mine, but also predictions about the building of “White City” in the foothills near the Mine. It would be, Koyle said, “a gathering place for the elect in the last days.”
Still others purchased stock without accepting Koyle’s far-reaching “revelations.” These were men such as the late Douglas Dixon, a Payson businessman who became a director in the company as did Raymond Steele, a Goshen school teacher and historian.
The late James E. Talmage, LDS apostle and geologist, entered into the Dream Mine debate. In 1928, Dr. Talmage [112] rendered a scientific opinion that the Mine would never be capable of producing valuable ore of any kind. Yet, the more tenacious of the Dream Mine followers continued to hang on, despite John Koyle’s excommunication from the LDS Church and the subsequent failure of the Mine to produce gold.
New Chapter. This past September, however, a new chapter in the Dream Mine story began with the arrival in Utah County of Paul Solem, sometimes referred to as the “Flying Saucer Prophet.” Solem is not actually associated with the officers of the “Relief Mine Company,” the current official name of the Dream Mine. But he shows an intense interest in the old Koyle story.
Solem, whose record of alleged contact with UFO’s goes back to his ranch in Howe, Idaho, in 1948, reports he was told by “his contacts from outer space” to hold five meetings near the Dream Mine. The so-called “celestial visitors,” he says, would hover 150 feet above the Mine. According to Solem, the full purpose of the visits from outer space “will be revealed at a later date.” It seems clear to Solem that a connection exists between the Dream Mine visit and an earlier experience he had with the Hopi Indians in 1970. He claims contacts with the “Venusians” led him to Hoteville, Ariz., where he met Chief Dan Katchongua, a 108-year-old leader of the Hopi Sun clan.
Flying saucers are legendary among many Hopi Indians. In fact, they believe they were led Northward in to what is now the United States by the Kachinas–powerful and intelligent beings from another planet.
In 1970, shortly after Paul Solem’s arrival in Hoteville, UFO’s were reportedly sighted over Prescott, Ariz.
One eyewitness was Joe Kraus, editor of the Prescott Courier. Kraus, not a man easily taken in, reported he “saw an [113] object in the sky.” It maneuvered, Kraus said, hovered and then disappeared. “It changed colors from a white to a reddish orange, to a purplish-blue and a reddish-white and then it was gone,” Kraus claimed.
Pictures on stone. This appearance was not surprising to Chief Dan who said: “We have seen the flying saucers and have heard their message to us. We know they are real because their pictures were drawn upon stone for all to see.”
Perhaps, say Solem’s followers, etching in stone at the Dream Mine–so-called hieroglyphics discounted by many observers–provide the link between the “saucer prophet’s” stay with the Hopis and his coming to the Dream Mine. Solem believes there may be some connection, but he is not certain. “All I know,” he says, “was I was told of five passes.”
On Oct. 20, 1974, about 6,000 people showed up at the Dream Mine site but, Solem said, because of the weather, there was no appearance. “On Nov. 10,” he continued, “some fast passes were made.”
On Dec. 8, 1974, Solem and his UFO enthusiasts returned to the Dream Mine site. Snow had fallen on the road to the Mine, and the way to the gathering spot was slippery and cold. The large bonfire was a welcomed sight to the 60 or so faithful who had met to await the mysterious meanderings of the “extra-terrestrial visitors.” This and a similar gathering on Dec. 15 produced “eye-witnesses” who claimed to have seen UFO’s above the Mine, and strange objects in the sky. Many of these people are down-to-earth people like Springville’s Frank Holly. Holly also claims to have seen a flying saucer with Solem on Thanksgiving evening, 1974.
Utah’s UFO’s. Even the more cynical might experience a moment of wonderment when Solem’s descriptions about [114] UFO’s are related with what biologist Frank Salisbury has written in his book, “The Utah UFO Display.”
In this book, Salisbury presents a systematic study of UFO sightings in the Uintah Basin area. He subjects his study to a rigorous scientific investigation, and his interviews with witnesses demonstrate the thoroughness of his approach. Salisbury classified the reliability of his witnesses as excellent, maintains that the findings are hardly a psychological phenomena and concludes “it is virtually inconceivable that the Uintah Basin UFO sightings are a hoax.”
Says he, “I believe I have been forced into it by the data on hand, that the people of the Uintah Basin have indeed seen real objects I cannot explain in terms of any of the artifacts of man or the natural events known to this science…. I cannot think of any reasonable explanation of the objects sighted in the Uintah Basin, except extra-terrestrial machines.”
But why the Uintah Basin, Salisbury asks? “Here,” he concludes, “science leaves us, and we can only make the purest of conjectures with no assurance whatsoever of their validity. Have they been making a survey?”
Too Confident. Where science leaves us, and where Salisbury drops any conjectures, Paul Solem enters with alacrity. His voice is devoid of hesitancies, and he speaks with much assurance. That may be why some find it hard to believe him. He sounds too confident, it is said. He believes the surveys are being made by “visitors” who represent the 10 lost tribes of Israel. Utah, he says, plays a vital role in their return. And the Dream Mine–while Solem is not yet sure of its ultimate role in the “scheme of things”–will supposedly link everything together in some logical way.
[115] Chapter 7
DREAM MINE
by Edna G. Brockbank
The source for the following article is Hidden Treasures of Pioneer History, vol. I, pp. 204-206.
Dream Mine
by Edna G. Brockbank
The Relief Mine, or Dream Mine, as it later became known was located during the winter of 1894-95, by John H. Koyle, Joseph and Samuel Brockbank, B.F. Woodward, Howell Davis and Albert Koyle. It was not located because of any indication that mineral was present, but because of a dream or vision which John H. Koyle received in June, 1894, in which he stated that a man appeared to him and conducted him to the spot where the mine was afterward located. They went down into the ground as if the shaft and tunnel were already excavated, and Mr. Koyle was shown, as he declared, all the various formations through which the miners would pass in the natural course of mining.
In accordance to the dream, Mr. Koyle explained the dream or vision to Joseph Brockbank, who accompanied him to the mountain east of Salem, Utah County, where a peculiarly formed foothill appeared to lie against the base of a larger mountain. After inspecting the place for sometime, the exact spot shown in the dream was found and the claim was staked out.
[116] The other four original locators became interested in the venture and mining operations were commenced by the sinking of an inclined shaft for forty feet. At that depth, Mr. Koyle informed his co-laborers they would encounter a certain formation. This proving true, they were instructed to change the direction of the shaft and dig another forty feet at which point they would strike another formation. This proceeding was continued during the winter until 1911, the men working on their farms and at other work during the summer and digging at the mine through the winter.
After 1911, others became interested and the work proceeded the year around. By January 1914, the shaft was sunk to a depth of 1385 feet. In the meantime, in accordance with the dream, it was decided to discontinue operations in the shaft and drive a tunnel from the bottom of the hill. By March, 1929, the workings consisted of the shaft, the tunnel which was into the mountain 3040 feet, a winze 200 feet deep located in the tunnel about 1300 feet from the mouth, several hundred feet of drift and a small glory hole.
By this time the mine had attracted much notoriety in the state as well as out of it. The Koyle Mining Company had been formed and stock was in great demand. Meetings were being held where more than a thousand people gathered. At one of these meetings, held September 7, 1931, they listened for several hours to a program where a few short talks by officials of the mine were given. It might have been called a gathering of the faithful and the faithless, as the crowd was divided between stockholders and the curious. In the crowd were many Saints from the Swiss German missions of the L.D.S. Church. The huge crowd was brought to attention by a bugle call from high on the mountain. The Salem Band played a selection from about the same position. Thirty-seven shots were fired, one for each year that the mine had been in [117] existence. A trombone and cornet duet, “O, Ye Mountains High,” was played from high on the hillside. After the opening exercises, a program was given in a splendid bowery where seats had been hauled to accommodate nearly a thousand people. This lasted until 12:30. Nearly everyone had provided themselves with a basket lunch, and a lunch stand had also been built which was well patronized. At 2:00 p.m., another two and one-half hour program was given.
In his speech, John H. Koyle, founder and discoverer of the mine, retold the story of his dream and stated that it was exactly 37 years to the day since the first six men came on the hill and began working. He also said that after 37 years of work on the mine, the company was not in debt to any extent.
The Church and the State became concerned because of the mine workings. The Utah Security Board ordered an investigation. Dr. Frederick J. Pack, representing the State of Utah, visited the mine and took one set of eight samples from the property, had them tested and at the conclusion of his report summarized conditions at the mine in the following words:
“In conclusion, I desire to state that in my judgment the Koyle Mining property offers no encouragement whatsoever for the future. While its formations–adjacent to the great Wasatch fault, are intimately displaced fractures, yet evidences of commercial mineralization are wholly lacking.”
The L.D.S. Church sent James E. Talmage to investigate conditions, and his opinion was the same as Dr. Pack.
Despite these and other investigations the work at the mine continued apace. An assay office was built, ore bins were constructed, and later a mill erected at a cost of $43,000. A road two-thirds up the mountainside was built leading to iron [118] prospects. The stockholders built a small cottage for Mr. Koyle and his family to occupy.
Mr. Koyle was excommunicated from the L.D.S. Church in July 1948, for insubordination and refusal to acknowledge the established order and authority of the Church. His working of the Dream Mine as a mine, had nothing whatsoever to do with his excommunication. Mr. Koyle was in effect operating as a ward of the Church, holding testimony and other meetings, not only without the consent of the local authorities, but contrary to their counsel and direction.
John H. Koyle died May 17, 1949, at the age of 84 years. While the company was organized and operated 55 years, the mine had always been on a prospect basis. Dividends of any kind had never been issued. Since Mr. Koyle’s death, practically no work has been done at the mine.
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[119] Chapter 8
UTAH’S DREAM MINE LIVES ON
by Diane Butler Christensen
Diane Butler Christensen is a freelance writer living in Provo. Her article appeared in the Utah County Journal, December 13, 1989.
Utah’s Dream Mine Lives On
by Diane Butler Christensen
One night late in August 1894, a Leland farmer named John Koyle lay down to sleep and subsequently opened one of the most controversial chapters in Utah County history.
Koyle claimed the next morning that he had been visited in a dream by an angelic messenger, the same Angel Moroni that had appeared to Joseph Smith. This angel, he went on to relate, had taken him to a mountain east of Salem and had shown him, inside the mountain, an extremely rich vein of gold ore.
In addition, Koyle claimed to have seen nine chambers containing piles of gold, treasures, implements and ancient Nephite records.
Koyle fervently believed he was given, that night, a sacred assignment to begin mining operations to reach these fabulous riches. The gold would not be used for his personal wealth, but for the relief of the LDS people who would be in need of food and other commodities during a time of drought and world upheaval soon to come.
[120] A few days later Koyle took a friend, Joseph Brockbank, up to the mountain. They found the spot Koyle said he recognized from his dream and started digging. Koyle began telling about his vision to all who would listen, and soon he had hundreds of people interested in his venture.
Why would people accept so willingly a story so out-landish? First, John Koyle was no wild-eyed fanatic. He was a well-respected member of the community, and was considered a man of integrity. Koyle’s last living child, Mrs. Homer Harwood, avers, “There was no better man living than my father. He was a man who fulfilled his obligations to the church and to everyone.” Apparently, many others felt the same.
Koyle had never made a secret of the fact that he believed passionately in personal revelation. He claimed, for instance, that he had been directed in 1891 by a heavenly voice to go on an LDS mission to the Southern states.
Further, this was an era in LDS history when spiritual manifestations that might seem bizarre now were accepted as commonplace. Meetings where early Saints spoke (and sang) in tongues, women gave blessings to one another, and the future was prophesied, are well documented. John Koyle’s vision was not at first considered to be outrageous in any sense.
It comes as no surprise, then, that members of the Mormon Church flocked to Salem to buy shares in the John Koyle Mining Co. (or the Dream Mine, as it was popularly known), and to help dig the mine shaft itself.
Norman Pierce, an avid supporter and contemporary of Koyle, chronicled these events in a book, The Dream Mine Story. Pierce claimed that John Koyle was supported fully by his stake president, Jonathan Page. Koyle was, in fact, called [121] to be bishop of the Leland Ward (near Spanish Fork) around 1910, when mining operations were in full swing.
Pierce further states that Koyle received support from members in high positions of church leadership, such as J. Golden Kimball (who served with Elder Koyle as a missionary in the Southern States Mission), Matthias F. Cowley, and Anthony W. Ivins.
If John Koyle had stopped with one vision, he might have remained in good graces with the LDS Church. He continued to make prophecy after prophecy, however, regarding world and church events. He also held, in his adobe farmhouse, meetings every Thursday evening; the meetings, which had the flavor and fervency of testimony meetings, were about the mine and Koyle’s visions. He began very quickly to alienate and anger the First Presidency of the Church.
In 1912 President Joseph F. Smith sent Apostle Francis M. Lyman to investigate John Koyle’s claims and activities. Koyle was released post haste from his calling as bishop, and was directed to cease all mining operations or be excommunicated from the Church.
As a final blow, the First Presidency published a letter ominously titled “A Warning Voice” in The Deseret News. The letter alerted Church members to the dangers of being led astray by anyone claiming the gift of prophecy for the entire church. Koyle obediently closed the mine and moved to Idaho for several years.
In 1920, however, President Heber J. Grant allowed Koyle and his supporters to reopen the mine so that the corporation might settle some outstanding debts. The Dream Mine went back into operation, with John Koyle in full cry, [122] prophesying not only about his pet project but about a variety of local, church wide and nationwide events.
Untold amounts of money and time were poured into working the mine. Three young men were killed in mining accidents. Koyle’s popularity waxed and waned among the LDS population of the area, and the LDS General Authorities took an increasingly dim view of John Koyle, his mine, his prophecies, and his Thursday night meetings.
No gold was found during all this feverish activity. A small pocket of platinum was discovered, which caused hysterical excitement for a few weeks, but the pocket turned out to be essentially worthless.
The First Presidency of the Church ran the “Warning Voice” letter two more times in The Deseret News, the last time in 1945 over the signature of George Albert Smith.
In 1947 an 82-year-old John Koyle signed an official letter repudiating his prophetic claims regarding the mine. He agreed to cease mining operations and cancel his Thursday night meetings. He hoped to avoid excommunication from the Church by doing these things, but within two weeks he had begun holding the meetings again and was excommunicated. He died two years later.
The mine shut down a second time with Koyle’s death, but the enterprise is anything but dead. Ask lifelong residents of the Salem-Spanish Fork area and they will know many people who own shares in the mine, if they don’t have a few shares themselves. There continues to this day an active board of directors. They prefer to call their nearly 100-year-old dream child the Relief Mine, and its corporate name has been changed [123] accordingly. Their belief holds strong that the revenues from the mine’s gold ore will buy tons of commodities, which will come to the relief of beleaguered LDS people in the times of distress to come.
Mr. Stan Wheeler, current president of the board of directors, speaks cautiously about the continued involvement of himself and other board members in the mine. He says all board members are active in the LDS faith and believe “President Benson is our prophet. We are not claiming revelation.”
Wheeler says the board currently directs only “development work” and no mining. He also reports that the board has rejected apostate groups and individuals who would like to become involved with the mine, naming such notorious examples as Ron and Dan Lafferty and the Singer clan.
And yet, Wheeler and other board members cling fast to John Koyle’s words that their beloved mine will be a success. Wheeler says proudly, “In due time we will be able to ship ore.”
The devotion of these people to their belief in that original vision is shown in their careful upkeep of the property. Geologists are called in periodically for consultation. The records are maintained carefully and the office is up-to-date, complete with telephones, electric typewriters, and a computer system.
The mine continues to be a consuming interest in the lives of the board members and others who hold shares of stock. And after all, why not? You gotta have your dreams. Oops!
[124] Chapter 9
A RELIEF MINE STORY
by Jesse L. Young
Brigham Young once said, “When the agricultural resources of Utah are exhausted, the Lord will raise up a farmer to open up some rich mining claims for the benefit of Zion,” and that, “The angels have charge of the riches of the earth and they can move them about as easily as I can walk to and fro in this aisle.”
In the Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 38, v. 39, the Lord said, “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.”
When John H. Koyle was a small boy he went to the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon with his father to get a load of rock with which to build a house. His father took a bar and pryed a rock loose, and a slug of rocks caved off, killing him and rolling all around John who was climbing up the steep slope. John’s life was spared for a purpose by the Lord.
On another occasion John was walking along the road behind a wagon. The wheels ran over a big rattlesnake, cutting it in half, and when John came near the snake, it struck him on the leg. They sucked the venom out and he recovered. This was one of many incidents when his life was spared. The Lord had a work for him to do.
[125] When John grew up, he got married and lived in Leland. One day he went to conference. The speaker said, “If you want a testimony of the gospel, ask the Lord for it, pray in secret.” This John did for a year but didn’t get his testimony. He went to conference again and the speaker said, “If you do not forgive one another their trespasses, the Lord will not forgive you and will not hear your prayers.” John said, “I have not done that, but I will now,” and he did.
He had a heifer that had been lost for three weeks. He searched everywhere but found no trace of her. So he did a little more praying. He then dreamed that if he would go down to the railroad crossing near his farm at ten o’clock the next day he would find his cow, with her horn broken and sticking down into her eye. Then he was asked, “If you find this heifer as shown, will you believe in the Lord and the gospel? Will this be a testimony to you?” He said, “Yes.” Next morning he got on his horse, rode down to the track and there was his heifer just as he saw her in the dream. He was so pleased and thankful for the testimony that he promised the Lord he would serve him in whatsoever capacity the Lord may require.
John next dreamed that he was to go on a mission for the Church. “Will you go?” to which he said, “Yes.” It was not long after that he got a letter from Box B. This was the official Church mailing address. It was a call to a mission to the Southern States. He went to the house to tell his wife. “I’m going on a mission.” She said, “You can’t go on a mission. You haven’t any money.” But he said, “I’ll go. The Lord will provide.” He had 4 or 5 head of cattle, and a voice said to him, “Kill two of your steers and sell the meat to your friends and neighbors.” The Icelanders in Spanish Fork whom Bishop had befriended gladly bought quarters of the meat to divide among themselves. That furnished the money for him to go. He went and had a lot of wonderful spiritual experiences concerning the [126] work. Once he was warned of mob violence which was planned against them. This was avoided by giving heed to his warnings.
Some surveyors had gone through his farm laying out a line for a new railroad which would cut his farm in two. He prayed for the Lord to change their plans, and He did. They pulled up their stakes and made a new line, missing his farm completely.
All of these wonderful experiences were for the preparation and strengthening of John Koyle to meet the requirements and responsibility of his great mission with the Relief Mine which was to bring relief to a suffering people in time of great suffering, hunger and want.
The time had come for his great work to commence. An angel appeared to him and announced his mission and call from the Lord.
He said, “The Lord has called you to open up a rich gold mine for the benefit of Zion and the world in a time of trouble such as the world has not known. This time of trouble will be ushered in by a financial crash; we go to bed at night and awake in the morning with no light, water, gas or heat. The money will become worthless, not worth the paper it is written on, an armful would not buy a loaf of bread.”
Brother Koyle was overwhelmed at the great responsibility and began to offer all manner of reasons why someone else with mining experience, that knew all about mining, should be called. The angel said the Lord can’t use one who knows everything; he must have one who does not know all things, one that will depend upon the Lord for guidance and direction. Then it remains the Lord’s work and that cannot fail. The wisdom of men shall perish and the works of men shall come to naught with frustration.
[127] Koyle consented, and the angel took him through the mountain and showed him all the wonderful things he would find as he tunneled into this “Holy Mountain.” They went through tunnels, drifts and shafts as if they were already made. He saw water at 300 ft., a black vein at 410 ft., a rusty iron-colored ore at 1300 ft., a map of North America at 1800 ft., a cream colored vein three inches wide on the left side of the tunnel and opening up on the right side, and by following that 20 feet he would strike a perpendicular vein that would dip down to a rich vein of gold ore that would have to be sacked to save the riches. Then at 2000 ft. he would strike a vein three inches wide on the north, 18 inches on the south with a beautiful hard slick wall. This vein would lead into five fingers each leading into rich bodies of gold and quartz. At 2200 ft. he would strike water that would fill a ditch in the tunnel along the track, and near the end of the tunnel he would find a chimney of soft material that would lead down to a capstone of hard rock that would be so hard it would take a month to go through this three-foot layer. Beneath this capstone he would find a rich white quartz vein that would lead to the nine rooms where the ancient Nephites worked, and left large crock jars full of coins and a lot of other items including tools, records, etc.
These things in the tunnel are there to be seen by all who desire to check the report. The tunnel that went into water canyon was open when they first went and investigated, but was covered up by a cloudburst flood soon after.
The time had come to get the work started, and Koyle was instructed to get Brockbank, his brother-in-law, to go help him stake out the claims and open up the mine because Koyle didn’t know how to locate or stake the claims.
After a lot of persuasion they went up with team and buggy, the road was washed out, and they had to walk. When [128] they got up on Knob Hill, they sat down to rest a bit. As they scanned the mountain, a light shown on the wide hill brighter than the sunlight. Koyle said, “Can you see what I am looking at?” They both saw the same thing. Koyle said, “Go and stick this pick in the ground where you see it.” He did and by digging down 18 inches, they found a vein of ore that assayed gold. That was the place to sink a shaft. They went down 1385 ft. and it took 22 men to work and pull that muck out by hand.
It was winter with snow waist deep on the mountain, and Koyle had a dream that he was to go down to the face of the mountain and start a tunnel. There will be two bare spots, the bottom one will be the size of a tunnel on the spot where you shall make the opening. When the men came to the house for breakfast, Koyle told them the dream. They laughed and said there are no bare spots on this mountain. This is one dream that will fail.
Koyle and two husky doubters headed down the face into the draw. The snow was soft and up to their arm pits in places. Lars Olsen was first to the scene and yelled, “Here it is sure enough! We’ll dig the tunnel here.” Koyle was still a true prophet.
Right away they took the bunkhouse apart and skidded it over snow by hand, down the steep mountain and set it back together on its present site.
They started the tunnel, and followed instructions in order to find all the things Koyle had been shown. He had to take hold of a maple tree with one hand and lean out as far as he could reach and go straight into the mountain. They struck water at 300 ft., just like he saw it in his first visit. They dug a hole big enough to dip a bucket full of water from. It would never run over yet it would supply all their needs. The bunk-house caught fire one morning and with a bucket brigade, they [129] dipped enough water to put the fire out and saved the house. Always enough, but never a surplus according to the promise.
Koyle had a farm in Idaho and wanted to go there to look after things and enjoy a vacation; so he put Peter Carlston in charge of the mine and went to the farm. Sometime later he 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. Peter and Fred Bangerter got a large block of stock in the settlement. Koyle said it would never do them any good and Fred and Peter are gone, and Fred is off the hill.
Bishop Koyle was highly favored of the Lord with the gift of prophesy and discernment between friends and enemies. He would talk freely with friends and close up like a clam in the presence of enemies. Oftentimes he was forewarned.
Once complaints were made against Koyle accusing him of selling worthless stock. Mr. Gull for the State said, “I’ll take care of him and put him behind prison bars in one month.” Bishop Koyle said, “Don’t worry; he is the one that will be behind prison bars.” As it turned out, Mr. Gull was put in prison for fraudulent dealings in stock.
Koyle was called in, by revelation, to go before the Prophet and receive his second anointing which is a blessing few men get. This put him beyond the authority of earthly men, subject only to the power and dictates of the Lord.
At one time a number of people in Spanish Fork became overpowered and possessed by evil spirits. When others failed [130] to heal them, Bishop Koyle was called in. Through his faith and command, the Lord drove out the evil spirits. On one occasion they went out of one person, crossed the street and possessed a woman. She was also relieved by the laying on of hands of Bishop Koyle.
Bishop Koyle was shown that the boys working in the mine were fooling around pushing, jerking each other and acting badly, and that if they didn’t stop it, someone would be killed. He called them in and warned them several times, but they would not heed. One day a Gardner boy was fooling on a ladder and slipped and fell two hundred feet to his death.
The Bishop and Lars Olsen were working in a tunnel one day. They were only a short distance in and were taking turns at drilling with a single jack hammer. While one drilled, the other would sit on a powder box at the entrance. They heard voices in conversation going up the trail and over the mountain. They could see no one nor understand what they said. They felt strange and uneasy and neither of them wanted to sit on the box but would insist on drilling.
Twenty years later two angels came to Bishop Koyle in the night and awoke him from sleep. The room lightened up bright as day. They reminded him of the time he and Lars heard voices near the tunnel and said, “We are the ones you heard. We are watching over this mine and have it in charge.” They talked for two full hours about the greatness of the mission of the mine for future generations. The biggest thing in all the world, and then they told him never to tell a living soul what was said in the hour and a half, but he could tell the first half hour which pertained to the Bishop’s work.
Em, the Bishop’s wife, pled with him to tell her the hour and a half story. He said, “Are you a living soul?” She said, “Yes.” “Then I can’t tell it to you.”
[131] Then one beautiful day two very close friends of the Bishop’s came over from Mapleton. He broke silence and told the hour and a half secret. Overflowing with joy and excitement the two got into the buggy and headed for home. As they jogged along, one of them said, “What did the Bishop tell us?” Neither of them could remember one thing he said. What he was told was too sacred for this corrupt generation, but will be revealed to a righteous millennium people prepared to do God’s will in all things. The half hour was that part which covered the Bishop’s work and mission. When the messengers come to remain and oversee the work, the wicked will not be able to get off the hill fast enough.
Elder Talmage was sent to make a report on the mine. When he met with the men, he said, “I have two satchels, one scientific and the other apostolic. I have my scientific one today.” He was rated as one of the seven greatest scientists in the world. He looked over the mountain and in the tunnel without finding anything showing that would indicate values worth mining. He then told the miners that they should pray to the Lord to show them what was right. The men said, “We have done that and received a testimony that it is true, just as sure as our testimony of the Church is true. The sincerity of their testimonies puzzled Elder Talmage, and he said, “Brethren, pray for me.”
His report to the Church was negative and caused a lot of trouble for Bishop Koyle and his family in the form of mockery and persecution.
After Brother Talmage died, he came back to Bishop Koyle and said, “Brother Koyle, I was the cause of the trouble and persecution heaped upon you and your family, and I cannot go on until I make things right. Will you forgive me and release me from this burden?” Bishop said, “With all my heart. I forgive you freely.”
[132] Moses and Joseph Smith appeared to Bishop Koyle and gave him instructions which he did not divulge or say much about. Moses said, “I hope you don’t have as much trouble with Israel as I had.” When Bishop told this to us, Parley Pierce said, “If you are the one like Moses, you will not bring the mine in to deliver Israel from bondage and lead them into the land of promise.” Nothing more was said.
The Bishop was reading the Doctrine and Covenants one morning, and at ten o’clock he thought, “It’s time to go into the mine and see what has showed up.” He put the book on a shelf, took his lamp and walked up the trail toward the mine. He heard a voice say, “Go back and read Section 111; it pertains to this place.” He stopped, looked all around, but could see no one so he started walking again. Three times this was repeated so he went back and read: “I the Lord your God am not displeased with your coming this journey (your life’s journey), notwithstanding your follies (Koyle’s follies). I have much treasure in this city (ancient) for you for the benefit of Zion, and many people in this city, whom I will gather out in due time for the benefit of Zion, through your instrumentality. Therefore, it is expedient that you should form acquaintance with men in this city, as you shall be led and as it shall be given you. (The men and inhabitants are the three immortal Nephites and their people). And it shall come to pass in due time that I will give this city unto your hands, that you shall have power over it, insomuch that they shall not discover your secret parts; and its wealth pertaining to gold and silver shall be yours. (Zion’s).
“Concern not yourselves about your debts for I will give you power to pay them (gold and silver from the mine). Concern not yourselves about Zion for I will deal mercifully with her (will gather the elect to a city of righteousness). Tarry in this place and in the regions around about (in Utah County [133] and around about). And the place where it is my will that you should tarry, for the main, shall be signalized unto you by the peace and power of my spirit that shall flow unto you (a holy city by the mine). This place you may obtain by hire (hire men to dig the gold and silver mining), and inquire diligently concerning the more ancient inhabitants and founders of this city. (The ancient inhabitants are the Nephites.) Therefore, be ye as wise as serpents and yet without sin; and I will order all things for your good as fast as you are able to receive them.”
According to Bishop a messenger told us when the time and the conditions are right, you will have the ore and all the wealth you need. The conditions would be a few trustworthy people gathered out, a financial crash, transportation stopped, civil strife, foreclosures on debts, banks closed, worthless paper money, etc.
There will be a seven-year period of changing conditions preceding the crash that will cause much suffering. The first year will have good crops, the second also, but the third year crops would suffer from drought and the wheat would be shrunken and fit only for animal feed and the fourth year would be a total failure, when there would not be enough for seed to plant the next year.
If we get riches out of the mine, the first or second year we can get good wheat, but if we wait until the third year, we are too late. Bishop saw that he went up and down this country with plenty of money but could buy no wheat anywhere.
Another set of changes would climax this period. The U.S. Government will collapse and there won’t be a responsible power to collect taxes. The mine will come forth with wealth and the L.D.S. Church will be set in order with a new set of officials and a return to the original laws and ordinances [134] that were given to Joseph Smith in their true form. Joseph Smith said if any man preach any gospel than this which I have preached, let him be accursed, yea though he were an angel from heaven and preach any other gospel than this which I have preached, let him be accursed.
Bishop was carried in the spirit into the spirit world where he saw beauty beyond anything he had ever seen on earth. The homes were neat, well arranged and surrounded with gardens of flowers that defied description; rare and brilliant colors not seen on earth.
As he walked up the path toward a “T”-shaped house, his father, who had been dead a number of years, came out on the walk and greeted him with a hearty welcome. He said, “John, I want you to go back to earth and teach the gospel to your brothers and sisters and see that they repent and go to the temple and be sealed for time and eternity. Tell Harry if he doesn’t quit his profanity and getting drunk, he will get an awful shaking up.”
John came back and went to work teaching and working with them, and they all were obedient but Harry who was stubborn and unwilling. John said to him, “I have warned you these three times and if you don’t straighten up, you will be punished with an awful shaking up.” The warning was like pouring water on a duck. He paid no heed until one day he was going up the trail in Flat Canyon taking supplies up to his sheep camp. He was walking, leading the pack horses through the oaks when suddenly an unseen power seized him and shook him with such furry that when he clung to the oaks, it tore the flesh off his hands. That changed his whole life. He quit drinking and went to the temple and had his wife and children all sealed to him for eternity.
[135] Bishop had a dream that the banks all over the United States would close in one month. He went to the Spanish Fork Bank and told the president to get his business in shape fast because the bank will close in thirty days. President Gardner smiled and said, “We are OK and such a thing can’t happen. The United States is back of us.” At the end of the month Bishop was walking past the bank and President Gardner called Bishop in and said, “Bishop a month is gone and everything is lovely.” Bishop said, “Just wait. I still have one more day; call me tomorrow.” Early the next morning President Roosevelt declared a bank holiday and all banks had to close.
In World War One everybody over the country was talking about the highly efficient 145th Artillery. Bishop said they would never see action. The word came that the 145th unit would go into action tomorrow. There were big headlines in the papers. A man from Salt Lake grabbed his paper and went to Bishop Koyle to prove him wrong, but Bishop said calmly, “They will not see action; wait and see.” The next day the Armistice was signed and the war was over.
Bishop Koyle was told by an angel to search the prophecies of Isaiah and put faithfully into practice the instructions given there. On Thursday we would fast all day and put in a full day’s work; then at 7:30 p.m. we would meet and pray for the Lord to deliver us.
Isaiah 56:1-3: “Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment and do justice; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.”
[136] Isaiah 57:7: “Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice (sacrifice of time, labor, and his whole life to the bringing forth relief for a time of trouble, drought and famine).
“8: Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance (calling upon the Lord); for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed (built a new home) and made thee a covenant with them (stockholders); thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it. (He built a bunkhouse high upon the mountain where the workers boarded and slept. Then he had a night vision of a larger house at the foot of the mountain; with a porch and two porch posts.)
“9: And thou wentest to the King (Jesus Christ) with ointment . . . and didst debase thyself even unto hell. (He listened to spiritual mediums. This was a time of trouble for Bishop Koyle. He was deceived into paying John Harper and his two partners a sum of money for a fake process for extracting metals from ore.)
“10: Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, there is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore, thou was not grieved.
“11: And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? Have I not held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not? (Bishop feared the authorities would excommunicate him so he signed the big lie document.)
“12: I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.
“13: When thou criest, let thy companies (stockholders) deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them; but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;
“14: And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people. (uncover lies, false doctrine and give them the truth.)
[137] “15: For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones,”
Isaiah 58:4-14: “Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness; (Bishop would tell us things that were not for the public; he would say, “Keep your mouths shut.” But the men would go out and tell a friend; and he his friend, and soon it was broadcast to all. This made the Bishop angry, and he would storm at the next meeting with threats of punishment; and as he would pound the table with his fist of wickedness, he would say, “By hell it has got to stop or you can’t be one with us.”) ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
“5: Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his dead as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? (Your iniquities have separated between you and your God that he will not hear.)
“6: Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the hands of wickedness, (bondage temporally and spiritually. Remorse is a burden you cannot lay upon the pure and innocent, neither can you lift it from the hearts of the guilty, for in the night shall it return that man may wake and gaze upon himself. There is no peace to the wicked.)
“7: Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? (This is the purpose and mission of the Relief Mine.) The poor and the meek shall inherit the earth. He that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my Holy Mountain.
“8: Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.
[138] “9: Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger and speaking vanity; (The signing of a check for several thousand dollars in a fraud of deception was to be made good, exposed and corrected without excuse or justification.)
“10: And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then shall thy light rise in obscurity and thy darkness be as the noonday;
“11: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. (The Bishop was told that the water in the hill would satisfy all our needs during the years of famine and drought.)
“12: And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt rise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.
“13: If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words;
“14: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”
Isaiah 57:16-21. “For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. (To qualify, one must come with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, put away vanity, pride, boasting, self-righteousness, and have full unwavering confidence in the Most High God.)
[139]”17: For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him; I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on forwardly in the way of his heart. (Do as I say; I am running things. Obedience to me is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.)
“18: I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners (signifying his death). * * *
“20: But the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
“21: There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”
Isaiah 58:1-3. “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
“2: Yet they seek me daily (in prayer, etc.) and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God (would not stand for the changing of the ordinances of the gospel, not transgressing the law). They ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God (fasting and praying often).
“3: Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. (We worked all day Thursdays with fasting and prayer, with long prayer meetings in the evening.)”
Isaiah 59:1-3. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
“2: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
“3: For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity: your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.”
[140] If we rebel against Christ and will not believe his word, we make his word a lie and that is blasphemy. We crucify him anew unto ourselves and His blood is upon our hands.
- Golden Kimball was shown that he was to get 500 shares of Dream Mine stock, and it was revealed to Bishop Koyle that he was to give J. Golden Kimball 500 shares of stock whether he had any money or not.
The idea kept working on Brother Kimball, so he decided to go and have a talk with Brother Koyle; and when he went and talked to him, he said, “It has been made known to me that I should get 500 shares of Dream Mine stock.” The Bishop said, “I know it,” and gave him the certificate that had already been made out, waiting for him to come and get it.
My Experience with John H. Koyle
While teaching school in Fairview, I heard that John H. Koyle had been visited by the three immortal Nephites, one of whom gave him a mission from the Lord to open a rich gold mine. It had once been operated by the ancient Nephites until they became so wicked that the Lord took it from them and destroyed them. The following poem given to Afton Waters while he was working in the mine in Eureka tells the reason why. An angel came to Bro. Waters one night and gave him this sacred bit of history:
I stood at the open portal
of a tunnel peculiarly grand,
And the patience required in its digging
was famed through all the land.
And one of an ancient nation
stood guard at the entry there;
Hallowed though stern was his visage,
snow white were his beard and hair.
[141]
With a guide I entered the tunnel
its cavernous depths to explore;
And as we hastened forward,
I felt as I never had felt before.
For I knew there was perfect safety
and that I had nothing to fear,
For those with motives untainted
were protected in working there.
Near a winze at the end of the tunnel
stood another of solemn mien;
Stern visaged and armed with saber
as he at the portal had been.
And as we passed onward and downward,
each landing was guarded the same,
Until with curious motives prompted
I asked, “Friend, what is thy name?”
“And why dost thou and thy brother
stand guard at these workings old?
Perhaps in the depths below us
are uncounted treasures of gold?”
To my query he thus made answer,
“Son of earth, thou hast rightly said:
For I and my brothers are remnants
of a nation long since dead.
“Ages gone, when we dwelt among mortals,
these mountains were teeming with wealth,
And the Father was granting our people
peace, wisdom, great riches and health.
“In the pride of their hearts, they forsook Him
and worshipped but mammon alone,
Til their sins reached upward to heaven
and earth `neath corruption did groan.
[142]
“`Twas then that the spirit ceased striving
and left them to darkness once more,
For every man’s hand smote his neighbor
and destruction was rapid and sure.
“And then when the Master was dying,
and earth `neath convulsions did lie,
The wealth in these mountains was hidden
from an evil and covetous eye.
“The wealth in these mountains of Ephraim,
thus saith the Father, is mine,
And all who partake of its fatness,
I own it by right most divine.
“This then is preserved for a people
prepared to accomplish His will–
The wealth which the Father hath hidden
beneath this once notable hill.
“We are guarding the wealth and the worker,
that corruption shall not allure,
The toiler who enters this tunnel
with motives unselfish and pure.
“But the Father’s purposes will ripen
though derision and scoffers abound,
And coming from sources unthought of,
dark clouds hover closely around.”
I awoke from my sleep and my dreaming
and sought my companion again,
But naught could I see but the mountain
and the place where my visit had been.
But I knew that the wealth that was hidden
from a nation now under the sod,
Must be used as the prophet hath bidden
for the glorification of God.
[143] Brother Waters thought he was to open and work this mine, but he got no direction as to where and how to find it till one day while in Spanish Fork someone asked him to go to the annual Dream Mine meeting that was being held on the hill that day. He went gladly. When he saw the mine tunnel, he was greatly surprised and thrilled, for it was the very thing the messenger had shown him in the dream. He took the poem out of his pocket, handed it to Bishop Koyle and said, “Here Bishop, this belongs to you. It’s your work and mission to bring relief to the people in time of great need and trouble.”
Bishop Koyle gladly received the wonderful new testimony to the divinity of his great mission and work. At this time they were having difficulty getting expense money so Junius Pierce said, “Bishop, if you will let me have that poem, I’ll go out and get some money for you.” He took it home that evening and next morning when he came back to work, Bishop said, “I decided not to let you have that poem,” so Junius handed it to him and said, “I don’t need it anymore because I memorized it last night.” This poem points the way to success and the riches of the earth, and also the riches of eternity if we will but worship and serve the rightful owner of the same. It also points the way to death and destruction if in our pride we turn from the Lord and worship but mammon alone.
A messenger appeared to Bishop Koyle when he was discouraged and calling for help and showed him a rich body of ore and said, “Does that satisfy you?” to which he said, “Yes.” Then the messenger said, “Now turn and look the other way; now turn back and look.” The ore was gone, buried up with a great rock slide. The messenger then said, “That is what will happen when the mine comes in if envy and strife, jealousy and greed enter in; and you can put your men to work but they will never find it.”
[144] Bishop Koyle was shown in a night vision that he was traveling along a road (life’s highway); then it divided into two roads, and he did not know which to take. Then a messenger appeared and said, “If you take the right road, everything will be all right, but if you follow the wrong road, you will have trouble plenty. One road leads to success, the other to disappointment.”
Mary Miner, a distant relative of mine, was living in California, taking care of the L.D.S. missionaries. A stranger entered into the work helping the Elders, which made for great success. Mary was so impressed with him and the work, that she thought he was more than ordinary. She asked the Lord about him, and it was revealed to her that he was one of the three Nephites, and his name was Zedekiah. She asked him to go to Provo and see her brother, which he did. He came to the Miner farm while they were in town shopping. As they came into the farm, he walked out to meet them. They, Melvin and Zed, as he called himself, became close and dear friends. He had great power to do things that frightened some and pleased others. He would tell them to look and they would see visions of spiritual things of rich beauty. He wrote many revelations concerning the Saints and the tribes sitting in darkness who would be favored of the Lord in these days of fulfillment when the more faithful shall see an angel from the Lord, even Moroni, descending in a cloud as of old. To which thing you must bear solemn and sober witness not many days hence. You shall know if you are faithful and shall see his power.
As he parts the clouds of glory in that solemn hour,
I shall show the heavenly records wrought on plates of gold,
If you hasten and make ready as you have been told.
Lo, I come to do the bidding of my God and King,
To show to the prophet records I must bring.
May man dictate to his maker what the Lord can do?
Surely from the lowest station Christ has come to you.
[145]
Priest or priestess, man or woman, dare man name the sex.
Prophetess or prophet judging and my spirit vex.
Keep your faith ever burning bright, is the Lord’s command,
And your eyes shall see those records from Moroni’s hand.
This is a sample of the things he wrote which were not for the public at present.
Mapleton needed a school teacher badly so Zed applied and got the job. By Christmas time his class could pass the test for the entire year. He was so outstanding that jealousies and hate were stirred up to the point where two fellows plotted to kill him. The plot was revealed to Zed that these two were lying in wait with a shotgun in some shrubs by the path he usually walked home on. At the warning, Zed turned back and went another way, thus thwarting their evil plan. But persecution increased, and a complaint was issued for his arrest. The sheriff arrested him and put him in Provo City Jail. When the keeper shut the steel door and locked it, the door flew open. This he did several times, not being able to lock Zed in, but he did not try to leave.
John Roundy, a temple official, and a dear friend of Zed’s, came over from Spanish Fork to visit him in jail. They went back home in a heavy snowstorm, and when they opened the door of their home, there sat Zed by the fireplace. He had entered without making any track in the fresh snow that was six inches deep. The jailer was indeed glad to get rid of him.
Will Roundy, a son of John, went with Zed to the Dream Mine and around the valley in search of six special witnesses highly favored to have this privilege. He could tell by shaking hands with them whether they were the right ones and trustworthy. I was surprised at some he rejected whom I figured would pass.
[146] He met with the six and gave them instructions and information that they would not divulge. But they were pale as ghosts when they got through.
Zed said to them, “I have work in California that must be attended to at once.” So he left saying, “I will write from the west.” Two days later they got a letter from him that was postmarked by a postmaster in California two hours after he left Spanish Fork. There were no airplanes in those days.
While Zed was here, the Lord told him to go to President Joseph F. Smith to receive certain blessings. He went to the President’s office and was invited in. He sat there for a long time waiting for some action. President could do nothing until his two counselors left, then he explained that the Lord had revealed to him the identity of Zed, but not to his counselors.
The Lord told Zed not until thou art washed and anointed by my High Priest and servant shalt thou be a prophet in these latter days–a special messenger to the tribes sitting in darkness, a sifter and refiner to the Saints of latter days. All who reject these servants shall perish from off the earth.
In another dream the Bishop saw himself and wife sitting in the frontroom 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.”
“Thine, oh Lord, be the honor and the power and the glory forever, Amen.” As long as he was in harmony with the spirit of the Lord, he received direction by the spirit of the Lord. Even as Joel said, “Your old men shall dream dreams, [147] your young men shall see visions, and I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh saith the Lord.”
Bishop Koyle was told that if he would preach the gospel and live the gospel on the hill, Satan would not have power to shut the mine down or have power over the workers on the hill. But he will go to the people in the valley and stir up trouble and create opposition to the work.
A man in Springville started the ball rolling by sending a letter to the Church authorities in Salt Lake City, claiming Bishop Koyle was defrauding widows and poor people by selling them worthless stock and getting rich himself.
Bishop Koyle had another dream. He saw the Mormons driven out of Mexico with only a small pack on their backs, leaving all their wealth behind.
It wasn’t long after that when Joseph F. Smith got up in conference and said, “We have a wonderful faithful people in Mexico who are entitled to all the blessings and ordinances of the gospel. Therefore our next temple will be built in Mexico.” Some of the stockholders heard this statement and rushed to Bishop Koyle with the news–to which Bishop replied, “Well, if what I saw comes true, they won’t need a temple there.” Someone told President Smith that Bishop Koyle was prophesying against him and the Church. This started a wave of persecution and investigation into the works there, and the life of Bishop Koyle, and the mine was closed as a result. This shutdown lasted about six years, during which time Pres. Smith died. He then appeared to Bishop Koyle 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.” This was not enough to move Bishop into action; he had to be directed by the living Church President.
[148] President Heber J. Grant was checking over the Spanish Fork Co-op accounts and saw that the Dream Mine owed them a sum of money. He asked why don’t they pay this debt? He was told that the Church closed the mine and they can’t get any money from the people, stockholders. He asked them if opening the mine and going to work would pay their bills? They said, “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.
Carter Grant, a seminary teacher who called President Grant “Uncle Heber”, was closely associated and friendly. Carter was aspiring to the high calling of seminary supervisor for the whole Church, but his record was in question because of his activities with Bishop Koyle in promoting the Dream Mine. He was told to sever his connections with the mine and Bishop Koyle in order to qualify or even hold his present position.
Carter asked President Grant if he had asked the Lord and received any direction from Him by way of a 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.”
Carter was one of Koyle’s best friends, a strength and support to him and the work. Through his influence many people became interested and bought stock.
About this time the Bishop had a dream in which he saw himself and Carter going along a road together. The Church and the government kept falling trees across the road trying to block their way. Then they came to a beautiful stream of clear [149] water. Bishop waded across, but Carter said, “This is as far as I can go with you.” So Koyle went along the road till he came to a side road leading to the right. He had been told to turn neither to the right nor to the left, but to keep on the straight and narrow, but he turned right and went in a semi-circle which led into a building. It was a small frame building and there was about three feet of ground around it. Bishop sat down by the table to do some figuring when three snakes came from under the floor. The largest extended its head right over to the Bishop who stuck out his finger and the snake bit it. Koyle put his finger in his mouth to suck the poison out, then rubbed it on his clothes and said, “It didn’t hurt much.”
Sometime later the Bishop called a special meeting of all the more faithful stockholders for a fasting and prayer period. The day appointed rolled around and about 30 of us met on the hill. We loaded into a truck and a few cars and went up to a green spot. He had seen in a dream that deliverance would come when he climbed up to that spot.
Bishop Koyle dreamed that he and Bishop Bullock, another inspirational mining man, were climbing the mountain by way of a ravine; while the people of the Church and others were throwing rocks and shooting at them until they got on top and on the green spot. Then everything was rosy and friendly and he had wealth. At this prayer meeting I was over-anxious to exercise much faith to help the cause come forth to deliverance. But I was disappointed, for the longer we prayed, the less confidence I had. Listening to different ones praising Bishop Koyle and telling the Lord what a righteous people we were, the best people on earth, seemed to me just plain simple vanity. When the meeting was over, I said to the Bishop, “I guess I will have to repent and humble myself, for I just couldn’t feel right and [150] full of that good spirit which gives hope and confidence in our efforts to reach the Lord.” The Bishop agreed with me that I was the one out of tune.
While we were in this meeting calling for help, three chemists in Colorado got together and received inspiration directed from the same spirit to go to Utah and sell a new process for extracting metals from ore with acid instead of fire. They had heard about the Dream Mine and decided without delay to contact the Bishop. They rushed to Salt Lake City and got in touch with the Glissmires who brought them straight to Koyle. He was wide open for business because he had been shown that a man would come with a new process that would revolutionize the mining industry.
They made a deal and went to work training Merrill Koyle and Willard Fuller in the processing of the ore. In about two weeks or so they were able to produce a beautiful sample of bright orange selenium suspended in a gallon glass jug of water. Everyone was happy that success had at last come. Bishop Koyle was sold one hundred percent and made the deal. He wrote a check for a good number of thousand of dollars and gave it to John Harper and his two partners.
People were so thrilled and sure we were all going to get rich that they filled the treasury with money. The Bishop felt so rich he wanted to pay his debts. So he and the mine secretary went to Roosevelt to pay a widow some money that they had borrowed from her to operate the mine.
That night Bishop Koyle had a dream that on their way back to Spanish Fork they met a passenger train going east and there was a great long snake on the train. The next day they met the train and when they got home, Bishop tried to find John Harper; and to his great surprise, John Harper was [151] on that train. He had cashed the check, taken the money and was gone. Merrill and Willard could not get any more selenium showings and the whole scheme fizzled out. A Big Fraud!
The Bishop figured the stockholders would not support the work, so he decided to go into the chicken business for a livelihood. He found plenty of good gravel and put us all to work building two houses for Lewis Weight and Willard Fuller to live in, and about four chicken coops which they filled with chickens. Ivan Coons, who knew how to tend them, was put in charge.
I was not so sure about the new industry as a part of the mine program. Koyle was always quoting, “Obedience is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.” “Do what I tell you to do. Obedience to the Lord’s commands and direction is required.” He would say a man being made a bishop is always a bishop and is a judge over the people.
I kept having dreams. At this time I had a dream that we had a granary full of wheat. It was built upon four stacks of lime rocks under the corners, and was elevated about eighteen inches above the ground. I looked under the granary and saw a small stream of wheat pouring onto the ground. I tried to see if I could plug the leak, but was unable to do so. Then a string of the neighbor’s chickens came running under the bin and ate the wheat and returned to their coops. I thought, “This will never do;” so I stepped into the granary and saw a funnel-shaped hole where the wheat was sinking down. I had no way to stop it so I had to let it go.
Bishop Koyle dreamed that he and his wife were riding on a beautiful passenger train headed for success. The train stopped at a station and Bishop and his wife got off to get something to eat at a lunch counter, and the train pulled out [152] and left them. But soon a slow old gravel train came along and they got on it and rode along for a while and it stopped. The crew said, “This is the end of our run,” so the Bishop got off and was walking alone down the track.
This gravel train was work on the cement houses and chicken coops we were building in order to get food–something to eat at the inn. After building the houses and the chicken coops, he insisted on building wheat bins and storing up wheat, but the company said this is the end of our run and the gravel train stopped.
While I was pushing a wheelbarrow hauling gravel for the chicken coops one day, Bishop took a wire and tied it to the front and helped pull the wheelbarrow. Then suddenly his dream came to my mind, and I said, “Bishop, this is a slow old gravel train.” He dropped that wire like a hot iron and didn’t come to help again. This was the first he had realized he was on the gravel train.
At this time I had another dream that Howard Grant, a seminary teacher in Arizona came rushing up in a black new car. He said, “Bishop, come and I will show you where rich gold is, right up the road in Water Canyon.” So Bishop Koyle, Lewis Wright, Willard Fuller and I got in the car and up the road we went. We were clipping along nicely about half way up the Canyon when suddenly the car stopped and started rolling backwards. I became frightened and said, “Howard, put your foot on that brake or we will all be destroyed.” He paid no heed. Then said Bishop, “Put your foot on that brake or we will all be destroyed;” but he would not budge. Then I parted the front seat and slapped the brake to the floor, but there was no brake, so we plunged off, more than 1,000 feet to the bottom of the canyon, landing right side up. We all got out of the car and looked at each other. I said to Howard, “You had [153] better get your brakes fixed.” He took a brush out of a quart can and began to paint around his hat band. Lewis walked over and put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Jesse, I want to thank you for saving our lives.” I said, “Don’t thank me. I tried but could do no good; thank the Lord.”
A few days later I went to spend the evening with Bishop Koyle. We sat in his kitchen, one at each end of the table and were having a very enjoyable time talking about the wonderful manifestations he had received from the messengers and the Lord. Suddenly a loud knock came at the front door, and in popped Howard Grant, all fired up with the good news of success to come. He had visited a woman in Arizona who had lost her husband and almost lost her mind when suddenly she became spiritual and began telling fortunes. She told Howard that he was interested in a mining proposition and described Bishop Koyle as being short, somewhat stooped shouldered and that he was making a cross-cut at the mine and would strike gold in September, and six months later he would strike it very rich. At this point I spoke up and said, “Bishop, a man holding the Melchizedek Priesthood after the order of the Son of God should get his direction from the Lord. You know what happened to Saul when he went to the witch of Endor. He lost his kingdom and wives and was destroyed by death.” That word made Howard angry, and he grabbed his hat, rushed out and slammed the door.
Next morning when Bishop and his son Merrill came up to the mine for breakfast and prayer and to instruct the workers, he had an angry look and a harsh voice as he said, “I got some good news from Howard last night, and if old Young had kept his mouth shut, I’d got the rest of it.” He then began laying judgments upon me and said, “How do you like that, Young?” I said, “It’s all right, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” The men chuckled a bit and [154] we all went out of the house to go to work. From there on the Bishop put me away from the others to work alone so I couldn’t talk to the other men.
Then I had another dream. I saw Bishop Koyle sitting in front of the bunkhouse and I walked over, picked up my lunch bucket and walked past him down the road. He said to me, `What do you want to go that way for? That’s not the way to go.” I said, “Yes, this is the best way for me to go.” And when I got to the turn in the road, I looked back and Bishop was down on his hands and knees scrubbing his face in the gravel and roaring loud with pain and anguish. I told this dream to the men, and someone told it to the Bishop. He didn’t like that, so he put me to work on the road alone and said, “You can scrub your face in that gravel and see how you like it.”
I had a dream then, that I was standing in front of Bishop’s house and a large snake six inches in diameter and fifteen feet long came slowly toward me from the south.
The next day while I was working, Bishop came slowly up to me and asked if I was reading them revelations from Glen Demings, to which I said, “Yes, I am searching for light and truth from every source I can find, for God is the author of all truth.” “Well,” he said, “There ain’t nobody can read them revelations and work on this hill.” With that he walked away.
When quitting time came, I took my lunch bucket and went to the Bishop and said, “I won’t be back to work tomorrow.” “Why not?” he asked. I said, “You say we can’t work here if we read Glen Deming’s writings. I intend to read everything I can find.” Then he said, “You come back to work; it will be all right.”
The Bishop said the first ore would come from on top, so he put us to work in Water Canyon, where we worked on six [155] prospects, some of which showed good signs of success. The trouble is that no one has been able to tell what the bright silvery metal is.
One night I dreamed that I was coming off the hill, and when I got out on the point of Knob Hill, I looked down to the cabin and two wolves were hanging around the bunkhouse. So I raised my rifle and shot twice at them, and they both scampered off the hill so fast they made the dust fly. That was Bishop and his son, Merrill. They both left some time later.
Bishop didn’t like the idea of others having dreams about the mine, and when I told him a dream, he angrily turned to me and said, “Who’s dreaming about this mine, you or me?” As well might man put forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri River in its decreed course as to stop the Lord from pouring down revelations upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.
In days of old, revelations came not by the will of man but holy men of God, spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost.
About this same time I dreamed I was standing on the flat east of the Bishop’s house with my hands and chin resting on the shovel handle. I looked to the north and saw a group of men, eight or ten, standing in a circle with their arms over each others shoulders and their heads bowed as if in a prayer circle. They broke the circle and they all turned their faces toward me. Then I recognized them as the general authorities of the Church who had passed to the other side. One of them walked over to me, and I felt so humble and thankful to greet President Joseph F. Smith. He had a beautiful gold watch in his hand, which he extended to me saying, “Take this watch. It is for you.” I said, “I have a good gold watch and do not need another.” He said, “Your watch will not do; you must take this [156] one.” So I meekly reached out my hand and took the valuable treasure. Then he looked at my feet and said, “Brother Young, we have something very good for you if you will clean your feet.” Then I looked at my feet and saw dried clay mud on both shoes about an inch high all around both shoes. Then he asked, “Will you clean your feet?” and I said, “Yes, I will clean my feet.” He looked pleased and turned and went back to the other brethren.
I awoke from my sleep and pondered the meaning and began to search for the interpretation and it was given to me that I was to bear testimony against them. A warning, then judgments would follow. The watch was to signify the office of a watchman.
In a prayer meeting Bishop called on me to pray. I acknowledged before the Lord our weaknesses and quoted from Isaiah where the Lord said, I called but none would answer; I called again but none would hear. So I put on vengeance and trod the wine press alone. Your iniquities have separated between you and your God that He will not hear.
This was too much for the Bishop; he never would call on me to take part again, but began to persecute and slander me before the workers. One of the men said to me, “You may not be working here very long.” To which I replied, “I’ll be here when a lot of you are gone.” They have all gone years ago and are forgotten. I got a job in Provo and didn’t go back to work at the mine for a while.
I had a dream in which I was walking with the Bishop up in Water Canyon looking for some ore to work on. We stopped by number six and I picked up some ore and said, “Here is the right place to work, Bishop.” He was not interested but hastened on up the mountain and over into Flat Canyon. A few [157] hundred feet down the other slope we came to a ledge and turned west. As we walked along this rim, it began to crumble and fall. I said, “Bishop, we had better get on solid footing.” I stepped over onto solid ground, but he made no attempt to save himself, and the mountain opened up. A great chasm swallowed the Bishop, and he went thousands of feet down into the bowels of the earth. I went to the Bishop’s house and announced to Lewis Weight and the family that Bishop was dead. There was much weeping among them.
I dreamed again that I walked into the Bishop’s room where he was sitting in his armchair. I stepped up to him and said, “Bishop, we have all got to set our homes in order before we can get results in the mine.” At this he was disturbed and angry. He reached out, grabbed my tie and with a piece of chalk wrote the figure four on my tie, then hesitated. Excitedly I asked, “What did you do that for? What does it mean?” He answered, “That is power of death in the canyon to you.” This frightened me and I awoke wondering who had sinned unto death. This was in 1946, so I concluded that death would come in the forties which would be the limit of time for setting our houses in order.
I went to the Bishop and told him the dream. He resented this because he felt that his house was in order and that he was highly favored of the Lord. I learned later that he had written the date of his own passing which was in the 40’s. He died in 1949.
Soon after this I had another dream in which I was standing on the foothills below the mine looking up the little canyon. Suddenly a large new bright red caterpillar came pushing heaps of dirt and rock, leveling the ground. No one could be seen operating it. Then I saw Bishop Koyle and his son, Merrill, standing right square in front of the huge blade, [158] and I yelled at them to get out of the way or they would be crushed and buried up. Neither of them paid any attention to me, and the blade pushed a big pile of waste over Bishop and buried him up completely; but Merrill was between two piles of waste and when the blade went over him he crawled out and walked away.
This huge caterpillar represents the newly appointed general authorities of the Church who were out to crush everything that was out of line with their thinking and policies.
Bishop Koyle was taken before the council and asked a long list of questions about his claims for the mine, all of which he answered in the affirmative. They then asked him to sign his name to this report, to which he agreed if they would give him an opportunity to have a meeting with the Presidency of the Church to tell his story and mission of the mine. This they agreed to do before publishing the report. But they changed all the “yes” answers to “no” and published the report without giving him a hearing with the authorities. When Bishop saw that report, he was shocked into despair and sorrow and shouted, “It’s a lie! It’s a lie!”
His name was signed to a document denying the divinity of the mine and making his life’s work a fraud and a delusion. He was told never to sign his name to any documents, but he trusted in the arm of flesh and lost. From this shock he never recovered, but got weaker and weaker until he was finely possessed of evil spirits. It took days of fasting and praying and administering by the Priesthood before he was delivered. He contracted pneumonia and died soon after.
Just before he died, he called a few of his closest friends to a meeting. They kneeled in prayer, the Bishop being mouth. In substance he said, “Lord, I have done all you told me to do, and I now turn the mine back into your hands.”
[159] With this action a great and heavy burden was lifted from Bishop’s shoulders.
Isaiah 15:18: “I have seen his ways and will heal him; I will lead him also and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.” His great mission was finished, he relaxed and soon passed away to the sorrow and disappointment of his close friends and followers, but to the joy and satisfaction of his enemies who supposed this would be the end of the Dream Mine.
But to the believing, these comforting words bring joy and satisfaction: “The works and the designs and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught. For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round. Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men.” (D&C 3:1-3)
When the time for the annual stockholders meeting drew near, there was a tremendous effort put forth by a faction of stockholders to manipulate themselves into office and control of the mine.
I dreamed that I drove my model A Ford to Spanish Fork and saw Steve Wood and a woman with their heads together plotting on how to manipulate themselves into control of the mine. I stopped and looked at them, and Steve said, “We are working for president of the mine.” I said, “You will never make it,” and drove away. The meeting was called and the various factions tried to take over by foul or fair means, which turned into troubled waters throwing up mire and dirt.
[160] In a board meeting Quayle Dixon was appointed president, two board members resigned, others were appointed and things smoothed out and we went to work.
Then I dreamed that I was carried in the spirit up to the saddle above the mine. I had a pick and shovel, so I started digging for values and found rich nuggets of gold, yet the rock did not look like quartz, just gray rock. The gray rock was more valuable than gold because it has life-saving substances in it. From it we get a non-acid battery fluid which produces a life-giving electric charge, and the powdered ore makes a soil conditioner that will produce the most wholesome food on earth. Healthful food.
Al Sinclair revealed its value to us and bought 500 lbs. of it for which he paid $500. This deal stopped the state from closing the mine.
I kept digging until I was down about four feet. Then I raised up and looked up the ridge and saw a man coming down from the peak through the air without touching the ground (swiftly) till he stopped. He reached his hand down, took hold of my hand and lifted me out of the pit. He put his left arm over my shoulders and raised his right arm to the square and shouted to the valley below. “This man is acceptable because he has health and consecration uppermost in mind.” He vanished quickly and I got back to work in the pit and made a trench about 15 feet long.
I was taking out the values, and Bishop Koyle stepped in beside me. He stepped down and examined the rocks and turned to me and said, “We had better get out of here because there is apt to be a lot of blood shed here.” I followed him for a few steps and stopped. He vanished and I stood looking over the valley and to the north toward Flat Canyon. In the distance [161] I could see objects coming toward me, and as they came closer, I saw that they were horsemen riding four abreast. Each man was dressed with a breechcloth and had a bow and arrow pointed straight forward. The horses were all bay in color, slick and beautiful with no bridle to guide them. As they turned down into Water Canyon, they disappeared. They walked in the air, not touching the ground, and the end of the formation I could not see. Then I understood that they were protecting this Holy Mountain and I need not fear.
The next instant I was in the mine. I stepped up to the face of the drift and saw a shelf about two feet high on the face of the drift. I took a pick and began picking it down when I noticed color in the quartz and began picking out gold nuggets; and when I got a handful, I started out to find a processor.
The next thing I was in the mill sitting on a platform step on the west side of the second floor. Then I looked to the door and in stepped a short plump black man with a heavy jet black head of hair combed back over his head. He spritely stepped up to me and reached up to shake hands with me, which I did and said, “Well, if it isn’t the little dark Lamanite in person,” and he acknowledged that he was.
He was the one that had been appearing to the foreman of the mine giving him instructions contrary to the Bishop. He was of the Gadianton Robber gang spoken of in the Book of Mormon. This was revealed to Bishop Koyle and the foreman admitted it was true.
Quayle put me in charge of mining and said, “Go where you will, but find the ore.” So my son, Jay Young, Erwin Thorn, and I went to work at the place I saw in my dream. We worked the fourth finger and began to find values. Then one [162] day we drilled into a new formation. I saved the drillings and gave them to the assayer, Dr. Brooksby. He got a gold button so rich he would not tell us the value. The next day we went in and there was the shelf on the face of the drift and beyond that was a vast body of rich ore.
We were so sure of success that Quayle and the Board went out and bought three thousand feet of air pipe which we put in the tunnel. We also got a compressor and jack hammer and went to work, but the values were burned and lost in the smelting process because jealousies and zeal to domineer disqualified us.
I dreamed that an important meeting would be called on the hill and that I came over the ridge and down by the bunk-house. The atmosphere was pleasant as I stood in front of the house looking down the gully at some fleecy white clouds floating up the ravine toward the east. Then within the clouds appeared a person dressed in white apparel, his countenance was most pleasant and inspiring to look upon, and with a sweet smile he floated right in front of me and vanished in the clouds, going up the mountain.
A day or so after, Quayle came up and said, “We are going to have a strange man come to meet with us and get some ore that is in this mountain.” Quayle asked me to come to his home in Spanish Fork at seven and ride to the hill with him. I got there a little early and was sitting in the living room when a knock came at the door, and Annetta went and let a man in. She introduced me to him. Then I recognized him as the person I saw in the clouds. I rode with him in the car up to the hill and heard the words of inspired instruction flow from his lips, telling us how to qualify for the blessing and riches the Lord holds in reserve for a people prepared to do His will.
[163] He told of strontium 90 fallout and other poisons that will destroy the crops and pollute the air, and that we must get the soil conditioner out of the Relief Mine and apply the electric culture to counteract all these evils and give us wholesome food and restore health to our bodies and minds. The famine will come by destruction of the crops of the earth in draught, floods, or hail, etc. Unity and a full trust in the Lord was his constant plea. Do not say, “Al says,” but “Thus saith the Lord. If I can only qualify as a faithful servant, I will do well.”
Each time he comes back he says, “Disunity prevails, repent and serve the Lord.” But the warnings were disregarded so he came all the way from Texas, went to Quayle and said, “Come with me; we must move the troublemakers off the hill.” They went up and ordered the three–Phil Hussar, Freddie Bangerter, and Alfred Brooksby–to gather up all their belongings and leave the hill forthwith. They did.
The idea in back of all of this is–I feel very thankful for the things the Lord has shown me. I have learned that obedience to instructions from the Lord is the only way to obtain favors with Him and receive the blessing promised. Truth is truth; it doesn’t matter whether people receive it or not. In order to receive the blessings promised by the Lord, we will have to live according to the word of the Lord which says, “Zion cannot be redeemed except it be upon the laws of the Celestial Kingdom.” This includes plurality of wives and the law of consecration.
[164] Chapter 10
STATEMENTS TO JAMES E. TALMAGE
by Carter Grant
Carter Grant was a seminary teacher and principal, as well as a nephew to Heber J. Grant. His belief in the Relief Mine caused him considerable conflict with the General Authorities of the Church, but he aptly defended his beliefs. Some of his defenses of the mine were brought out in a series of four of his letters to Apostle James E. Talmage, dated September 7, 9, 30 and October 5, 1931. Also included in this chapter is Carter Grant’s “Notes from My Journal” dated July 14, 1934.
Letter One–September 7, 1931
When we were together last Wednesday, you spoke regarding the portal of the long straight tunnel now being drilled, saying that you picked or pointed to a place where it might, in your judgment, if begun here, cut the bottom of Koyle’s shaft; and you wondered how near the present tunnel was from this spot on the north side of the canyon, down toward the bottom that you suggested. I was going to tell you then, but it slipped my mind. His tunnel is not in the same canyon at all where his shaft is, Water Canyon, but is northwest about a quarter of a mile, over in another canyon–one you could not see into when you were at the mine. This is why the tunnel is running 40 degrees south of east. No one expected him to go over into that canyon and begin a tunnel, until Tuesday morning, January 6, 1914, when Brother Koyle presented himself to the breakfast table where 20 or 25 men were present, saying, “Well, I had a dream last night, seeing [165] the exact spot where I am to start that long tunnel that I saw in my first dream, but did not see where to start it. I know now; it is over in the canyon north of us, down toward the bottom. I saw two bare spots on the side hill, one above the other. We are to begin on the lower one. I went around, in my dream, about 300 feet west and stood against some small trees and leaned over, looking toward this lower bare place, and I was shown that if I would direct the workings regularly from this point, we would get everything in the long tunnel that I was shown in my dream, getting the first water at 300 feet, the place to the winze at about 1,000 feet, and slick wall and then I was to get down on my knees and see daylight from the turning down place, the last turn towards the rich ore, some 100 feet below the tunnel.”
I am told that this was a great shock to the men. Indeed, it was to me, for at that time I had supposed that the long tunnel would come out on the side of Water Canyon when it was made. I then owned a couple hundred shares of stock in the mine and looked forward to a speedy realization of values–“Relief”–as Brother Koyle always puts it. Without sending anyone down through the waist-deep snow that January morning seeking the “bare spots,” Brother Koyle designated three men, telling them to get their picks, shovels, drills, and powder, and he would accompany them down to the place of beginning. With many misgivings the men followed down the gully, wallowing in the deep snow, repeating constantly that they would never find any bare spots in a “snowed-in” canyon, deep beneath the shadows of the ridges.
The story is that every part of the dream was fulfilled exactly, and the work was begun immediately. No surveys, no measurements, nor anything. The tunnel is in an ideal place for taking out ore should any be encountered, being but a half mile above the canal on an easy grade for the road.
[166] When the mine was closed five months later, for six years, this tunnel was about 200 feet long. When the day for opening, in September 1920, came, it was found that all the windlasses in the upper workings were rotten, the stations all unsafe and things generally in a tumble-down condition; so instead of drilling forward in both places, the lower one was chosen, and from then until now all efforts have been upon the lower workings.
Letter Two–September 9, 1931
Brother Koyle stated that he will eventually connect directly with the old shaft running to the top of the mountain and that this shaft will be used for ventilation. The old shaft, according to what Brother Koyle told Brother Grant is about 1,400 feet as measured along the entire excavation.
Brother Koyle stated that in his earlier dream or the original dream at about 1,000 feet in from the portal of the tunnel, he plainly saw a red iron formation in the top of the tunnel which he was to follow by drifting in a southerly direction until he struck a big white vein, and then he was to go down until he got his ore, which he said would be a vein about 18 feet wide and 18 feet high of a reddish-brown formation running easterly under the tunnel. He also stated that a point about 1,000 feet farther in, which would be 2,000 feet from the mouth or portal of the tunnel, he saw a white vein about an inch wide on the north side and about 18 inches wide on the south side, which if he would follow out, he would reach five distinct veins of very rich ore and that he would find platinum ore in one of those veins, and that these five veins would contain twice as much value as he would get out of the wintz located at the point 1,000 feet in from the portal. He stated that when he got his ore in these five veins, that a great depression of business would be on the country lasting four [167] years, and that he would take his ore out in time to be a great relief to those who were interested in the company. He stated that he would get this ore put out in the side drift at about the same time at which he would reach the slick wall or his turn-down place, 3,000 feet from the mouth of the portal, which would be right under the bottom of the old shaft.
He stated that in his dream he saw the side drift produce first at the 2,000-foot point in from the portal, and the winze at the 1,000-foot point comes second, and that next, that is in third place, he would reach ore at the end of the tunnel by sinking down about 100 feet as described.
Brother Grant states that he has inspected the mine and he finds the formations as now revealed to be precisely those that had been described by Brother Koyle as having been seen by him in his dream.
Brother Grant stated that he and ten or twelve other college graduates, two of them with their doctor’s degrees, had investigated this and feel sure that this man, Brother John H. Koyle, has actually seen things ahead of him, either from the positive or negative spiritual power. He also stated that he and this group are now watching the procedure very carefully and are making definite check upon what Brother Koyle has said and what he is encountering in the working of the mine.
Letter Three–September 30, 1931
According to my promise to you of September 9 and 10 when talking to you at your office, I am sending a few more of our observations regarding the Koyle Mine, or as it is sometimes called, The Relief Mine. I shall endeavor to be strictly truthful, basing my statements upon no preconception or prejudices one way or the other. Seemingly, those possessing [168] the fewest facts are doing the most criticizing. Our group, however, is delaying judgment to wait for all of the facts to come in. As, however, we are college men, we are looking ahead to a day when we shall pass judgment most severely. We shall hold nothing back on either side, giving our unbiased conclusions of the whole matter. In no way, shape, or form are we carrying our investigation forward with subtle or fraudulent intent. No one can truthfully affirm that we have not found the biggest “Believe it or not” affair in the wide world.
Really it’s worth the price of ten gallons of gas to take a ride up to the Dream Mine and listen to the manager, John H. Koyle, predict the future. When we were there the last of August, he unhesitatingly declared that all sorts of trouble was still ahead of the mines and the stock market, saying that the time was drawing close, the days for the “Bread Lines” to begin lengthening in Salt Lake City; and he says that he told President Gardner, more than a year ago, that something would happen to the Republican Party, letting the Democrats take the presidency at the next election, and that things would continue to get worse until that took place.
The reason I speak of elections is because of a past experience I had with Brother Koyle’s predictions. In 1911, I went to Leland Ward and had a long talk with Bishop Koyle, staying with him all day. Among other things, he rehearsed to me a rather peculiar dream. Not only did he give it to me, but he also told it to several hundred others, saying that he had seen that the Democrats would win in 1912 and again in 1916. At the time of my visit I was a juryman, passing judgment on the first white slave case tried in this state. I said, “I can give you something to think about. There is a bishop living near Spanish Fork who says he has had a peculiar dream, seeing an elephant, lying flat, representing the national political powers and the party able to roll the animal over would gain power at [169] the next election. The Republicans worked and worked, lifting it part way, but they failed. Then the Democrats took hold of it and turned it over. Four years later the Republican Party came to nearly turning it over and for a few minutes it seemed they were successful, but they couldn’t get it over. Then the Democrats came and succeeded. This bishop declares he is sure from his vivid dream, that the Democrats will take the election for the next two times.”
Well, Attorney Richard and I and hundreds of others, having heard the dream, watched the Democrats win both times. Brother Koyle declared that he had not dreamed about the 1932 election, but that it came to him so strong that he believed he was right. When his dream about the elephant came true, a number of people bought stock, so I am informed, believing that his dream regarding the mine surely must be right, but the source–that is the problem.
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Before the Saints were driven out of Mexico, Brother Koyle told dozens of us that he dreamed of seeing the United States armies on the border. Although he saw but very little fighting, he saw the Saints all driven and fleeing for their lives, that the restoration seemed slow and difficult. After he had had this dream, or at least after he told us about it, President Joseph F. Smith went to Mexico, and when he returned, he praised the faithfulness of the people greatly, suggesting that it would be a wonderful thing if they could have a temple there. Some of us criticized Bishop Koyle, telling him that his dream was from the wrong source. To this he replied, “If President Smith had seen in a dream what I saw, he would know that there would not be enough Saints left in Mexico to support a temple.” Someone went and told President Smith what Brother Koyle had said, possibly twisting it somewhat. Since [170] you know President Smith’s very adverse attitude toward Brother Koyle and the Dream Mine, you know, possibly, how he took it. I am not saying from what source John H. Koyle got his information regarding his statements about Mexico. The fact that concerns us in our investigation is that he has told such things before they have happened. We shall carry out our investigation just as carefully whether we think he is led of God or of the Devil. Without question, it’s one or the other. We have already arrived at that conclusion. People who say he isn’t are wholly ignorant of the facts in the case.
After John H. Koyle made his prediction on silver, it rose to $1.35 per ounce. Still in the face of his anxious stock-holders he continued to affirm that it would lose its value before he got his values beneath the capstone. Then, too, how dare he predict that in his long tunnel he would encounter great breaks back to the west, 100 feet or so across, turning exactly opposite to the general formation, all dipping to the east? How did he know that he was to find walls that would parallel his workings, that by running between them some 2,500 feet away from the tunnel so straight that you can see the portal of the tunnel from 3,500 feet in the mountain. Of course, walls are not uncommon. But how did they chance to run 40 degrees south of east, fulfilling his prediction, causing many investigators to come through with means, keeping the men going. How did he know, so he could say most positively, “We will get drinking water when we have gone in 300 feet? It will not be sufficient to run out the tunnel, however.” Then when asked how far he must go to get the stream that would run out, it was suggested to him 1,500 feet. “No,” he said positively. And the same answer was given to 1,600 feet, 1,700, 1,800, 1,900, and 2,000. “But,” he declared, “we will strike it about 2,100 feet and it will come down this ditch and over the dump as I have seen it. If we don’t get water before we go 2,200 feet, we won’t get any ore. If one is false, the [171] other is also.” At 2,100 feet, no miner in the world would have predicted it, but hundreds can bear witness. But as to the source of his inspiration, that’s another question. Our business is to examine the facts, deciding if he does really see and predict the future, then testing to see if his prophecies come true.
One day in 1929 previous to the breaking of the stock market, several of us had a talk with Sister Koyle, asking her many questions. She said words about as follows: “John has dreamed many remarkable things. Never have I got up in the morning and had him say, Em, I dreamed so and so last night, it was very plain and vivid, but what that dream has come to pass. He wrote me several dreams from the missionfield, dreams that he had about us here at home which proved true to the letter. One especially I remember regarding the coming of the railroad through our property, and of how it would change its course so our property would not be ruined. This dream, mind you, came after the surveys had been made through the very center of our farm, cutting it right in half. It came true, nevertheless. At one time he wrote me about dreams he had regarding how to save himself and the elders under his charge from the mobs, and they were all true.
“One June morning in 1929 he got up and turning to me in the most solemn manner, he predicted, `Em, four months from today Wall Street is going to crash, causing a terrible financial panic in the United States. Thousands of people on every side will be going busted. While the little banks everywhere will be going broke, the bigger ones will become crowded with money. Property holders are going to be hard hit. Sheep and cattle are going off. A terrible condition is ahead, beginning four months from today.’ He then told me he had seen it in a dream and knew it was coming as sure as the sun rose. He said also that before these trying financial days [172] were over, that the country would enter the four years of distressing times that he has been shown two different times in dreams, seeing that he should store grain against the years of famine that are coming. He says that the mine will come out before these hard times are over, giving him plenty of means with which to buy grain and other things he expects to store.”
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To be sure, in 1929 we looked forward, waiting to see what “calamity” would come in October. While at Priesthood meeting on Saturday evening, October 5, I was somewhat aroused by President Ivins’ statement (according to my journal it reads): “The depressing days to come will require all our individual resources as well as the resources of this Church.” He then warned the people to free themselves from debt, etc., and, to save my soul, at that time I could not see any chance for Brother Koyle’s prediction or President Ivins’ coming to pass. But the financial crash is now a matter of fact that no one would think of disputing. I know this, that my ZCMI stock tumbled from $105 to $20. Even wheat went off about three-fourths its former value. Did Brother Koyle actually dream of the crash or did he make a wild guess hitting it exactly?
Letter Four–October 5, 1931
Brother Koyle greeted us very cordially, stating that he was pleased to have Dr. Pack come and look over the mine. As we began our journey into the mountain, the workings all told comprising more than a mile, Dr. Pack began explaining what he could see, while Brother Koyle, upon being questioned, related what he had seen in a dream along the way directing him how to run his tunnels, etc.
At 300 feet from the portal Brother Koyle declared that at that spot he had seen and had predicted before starting into [173] the tunnel that they would reach drinking water, and several men present bore witness to its truth. At about 1,000 feet in, a red formation was pointed out, leading about 20 feet south through a tunnel; then it struck a white formation leading down into the mine, 265 feet. Due to foul air, however, we could not get into it.
At this point Dr. Pack stated very positively that the material between the walls that was being called a vein was nothing more than ground-up matter within a great break or fault, giving no indication of ore bodies or values.
The next objective, 1,000 feet farther in, was the “side drift,” but this was left to be examined upon our return from the face, some 3,300 feet from the portal. At 2,200 feet, Brother Koyle related how he had seen that between 2,100 and 2,200 feet, he would get a ditch full of water, the ditch he had compelled the men to dig some 2,200 feet dry ready for the water he claimed to have seen in his dream. At this point also, several men spoke up stating that they knew Brother Koyle spoke the truth.
As we passed through various paralleling walls, Dr. Pack made it plain that such walls might be found at various other places in the mountain and that because he chanced to hit between them as he had predicted he would, or rather claimed he had seen in a dream that he would, was of no value to the geologist in making his examination, neither was it indicative for ore bodies or veins. At this statement Brother Koyle stated that those straight walls through which his arrowlike tunnel was to pass were markers to him that he had plainly been shown while traveling through these workings, accompanied by a messenger who pointed them out very decidedly, saying that if the tunnel passed between them, Brother Koyle would know he was directing his men properly.
[174] At the end of the tunnel where other paralleling walls were encountered “as seen in my dream,” as Brother Koyle puts it, and to which a number again bore testimony, Dr. Pack asked why a shaft was being sunk along the slick-sided wall down the fault line, displacement or fracture. To this the promoter said, “This place right here, the paralleling walls for about 40 feet, the white on the north, the black one on the south, the open fissure running in the center of the workings, the white formation looking like calcite or spar, the walls in the bottom, forming a hog’s back as I called it in my dream; then the slick wall coming up in front of the bill (?) precisely as I saw in my dream–we shall sink here for about 20 feet. Then if all the other things show up that I have seen, we will go down through the soft formation for about 100 feet to the capstone. But we shall have to be extremely careful, for the messenger, showing me through them, declared we would have to timber if we put in heavy shots.”
“How far down are you now?” requested the doctor.
“About ten feet.”
“What do you expect to find below your capstone, as you call it?”
“We will be about two months going four feet, getting through the capstone. That’s the way I have it. Once through the hard stone, however, we will go immediately into a white rock containing rich gold ore in a leaf-like formation. Then we will sink on this rich ore about 150 feet, drifting a little to the northeast, then the vein turns flat, running in a huge body to the southeast.”
“You say you have seen that in your dream?”
“Yes, sir.”
[175] “Are you sure this is your `turn-down,’ as you call it?”
“No, sir. Not yet. While it fills the bill thus far, I cannot say until I go about 20 feet. I shall know for sure by then. If this isn’t the turn-down, then I must come out of this hole, drilling on into the mountain, seeking another place exactly like this one. As far as I can see yet, it is okay. The men, even Brother Grant here, want me to sink at this place, saying that if this is not the place I have described, I will never get another. Well, at 20 feet I’ll declare myself. From here down, providing it proves out, it will be easy going, for I have seen that we would put in a small round, then pick and spade most of it. Then, too, I was to find low grade values at the turning-down place, running in values down to the capstone. During the 10 feet we have gone, we are getting one or two dollars in gold and some in silver.”
“As far as I am able to judge,” said the doctor, “you have nothing to show. No igneous formation; no signs of heat. In fact, I see positively everything in your disfavor. Nothing in your favor. If providence has hidden vast quantities of rich gold ore only 100 feet below us, it surely is sealed in well, with no traces whatever showing. I want you to know I am judging this matter as a geologist. I see no reason for sinking here, expecting fabulous deposits.”
We then withdrew down the track about 1,000 feet toward the portal, reaching the side-drift, comprising about 1,000 feet of tunnels. Following a very careful examination of what has been designated as veins, Dr. Pack pronounced them nothing but worthless breaks or faults filled not with vein material but with a ground-up formation, carrying from one to six dollars in values. He again gave no hope whatever for rich deposits.
[176] Upon talking with me yesterday noon for more than an hour and from what I saw at the mine Saturday, Dr. Pack convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt that from the geological standpoint, the mine is worthless. The material between the walls running low grade gold, I found not to be veins as I had supposed. At least I am taking the Doctor’s statement. He should know.
“Notes from My Journal”–July 14, 1934
Wednesday, March 4, 1931: Last night Brothers William A. Jones, Clyde Hood, Philip Tadje, Richard Sonntag, and I went to Brother Koyle’s, arriving at 8:00 p.m. After asking each one of us about the hard times, getting what we knew, Brother Koyle opened up, declaring that they would grow worse and worse each week; that even the Church would become so hard pressed that the cry of the needy could not be satisfied.
Brother Koyle then showed us some of the big wall that had come directly across the tunnel in the “face,” through which he is now drilling, toward his “turn-down”.
My, but what a time they have had down in the winz! After shooting out the black wall, until about two feet of soft formation had come, into which one could drive the pick without any difficulty, making a good place for a fissure, Brother Koyle felt impressed that due to the fact that the fifty-foot hole up above the men, had refused any longer to take the water, that now was the time to have “Barrel-dream” come true.
As the water filled in, he gave orders to pull the pump, taking it up some seventy–five feet. Then up came the water for about fifty feet, following them.
[177] He declares that true to what he has been shown, the ore will be found in Merrill’s side, then he will go down into the winz, and the fissure will be found and drain the water away. At this point the “Big Fish” in the bottom–with entrails out and heads off, all ready for the frying pan–will be picked up without any difficulty. Then, since the fissure will be open, all pumping troubles will cease. Then I write, “If that isn’t a marvelous prediction, there never was one uttered.”
“Think of it,” I continue, “more than fifty feet of water, and still rising in the bottom of a three hundred foot shaft in the very heart of a “water-logged country,” and still Bishop Koyle firmly declares that soon after the values are reached by his son, Merrill Koyle, that this water will begin making its “get-away” as he puts it, drawing off into an open crack or fissure which the Creator arranged would lie at the very spot most needed to help this work along.”
“When the values and fissure are reached,” he said, “we are to drift eastward on a wedged-shaped vein. Then at forty feet, the vein will open to eighteen feet of sacking ore.”
Brother Koyle made many predictions last evening regarding the terrible days of sorrow immediately ahead. He has been shown that the time will soon come when he cannot buy.
* * *
Ten days later my Journal says, Saturday, March 14, 1931, William A. Jones, Henry Armstrong, Clyde Hood, Horace Brough, and I went to the mine. In Merrill’s side they have turned off to the right, following a wide vein of material showing large quantities of iron and other minerals.
The water in the winz is at a standstill, fifty feet deep, waiting for the fissure to be opened. Since Bishop Koyle has seen this fissure, I am perfectly sure that it will be opened.
[178] Now as to storing wheat! Since this subject has been upon Brother Koyle’s mind for some time, he stated to us that on Friday, March 13th, while coming out of the tunnel, inspiration came to him like a voice speaking, telling him to build double cement bins on the side hill near the powder magazine, one below the other, so that he could let the grain from the first bin run down into the next and then down into the third and fourth. These long cement tanks or bins were to begin at the upper road and stretch down the hill, so that with the gates open between the bins, grain that was dropped into the top one would easily find its way down the incline to the lowest level.
Then I write, “Brother Koyle was exceedingly happy over the proposition, knowing as he does that the matter had been revealed by the Lord. This has completely upset our former plans of building elevators, etc.
“Then, too, this plan, says Bishop Koyle, will put the grain upon our property where no one can molest it, where we can make distribution as we see fit. All eyes are to look toward us for relief.”
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[179] Chapter 11
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE KOYLE MINE
John H. Koyle
The following information was printed in a small pamphlet in early 1933, in answer to Dr. Frederick Pack:
The Truth about the Koyle Mine
John H. Koyle Answers Statement of
Frederick J. Pack
For a number of years, myself and friends have been laboring persistently to secure values at the Koyle Mine, or “Dream Mine,” situated south east of Spanish Fork.
Since statements recently have been published by Dr. Frederick J. Pack that we have no present values nor any future prospects and have proceeded without having had any values, I am submitting the following reports:
Assays made by Thomas E. Chatwin of Mammoth, Utah, August to December, inclusive, 1931, representing several hundred assays, vary from $0.40 to $6.40 per ton in gold.
A chemical quantitative and qualitative analysis by H. Romeyn, Ph.D., on December 24, 1932, gives a return of $2.00 per ton in gold and declares the following metals to be present: Platinum, Rhodium, Osmium, Nickel, Arsenic, Antimony, Lead, and Iron.
Incidentally, on the same date stated above, December 24, 1932, Junius J. Hayes of the University of Utah faculty, [180] reported that he had assayed sample collected by himself from the Koyle Mine and found gold to the extent of $1.70 and $0.80 per ton. These assays closely ally with one another.
The following assays from various assayers in the city are still more of a definite informative nature. All samples were collected with the view of getting a fair return of the ore then being mined in the various drifts of the Koyle Mine.
Crismon & Nichols, Sept. 6, 1932, returned $1.40 per ton in gold. Alonzo F. Bardwell, Sept. 26, 1932, returned $6.89 per ton in gold. Black & Deason, April 22, 1932, returned $40.80 per ton in gold.
The officials of the Koyle Mining Company, always wishing to get at definite facts, have spared no efforts in getting at true results. Respecting this fact, they had a series of samples submitted to the Assay Office of the United States at Salt Lake City, Utah, which rendered the following dates and returns: Sept. 19, 1932, $22.40 and $64.00 per ton in gold; Oct. 1, 1932, $17.60 per ton in gold; Oct. 7, 1932, $0.80, $1.20, $2.00 per ton in gold.
Bryon E. Grant, working at the Koyle Mining company’s assay office during the months of October, November, and December, made upward of a thousand assays, showing returns of from a trace to $444 per ton in gold. A more careful analysis of these many assay slips shows several returns over $100 per ton, while the great majority of the assay slips show returns of from $2 and $3 up to $30. Such figures as $20.00, $16.80, $4.80, $4.40, $2.60, $12.00, $13.80, and $5.60 present themselves bluntly while thumbing this large collecting of assay slips bearing the signature of Byron E. Grant.
[181] Report of John M. Bestelmeyer of June 6, 1932:
“On May 30th, 1932, at the request of interested parties and for certain definite reasons, and with the assistance of Mr. D.W. Jeffs, manager of the Utah Gold Co., we visited the Koyle Mining Company, situated at the base of the Wasatch range, easterly of Salem, Utah, to sample certain faces within the workings of the mine, for the purpose of definitely proving any gold values that might be obtained by direct amalgamation–and to determine as nearly as possible the value, if any, in ounces of gold per ton.
“All samples taken were properly numbered, dated and designated as to position, width of vein, with all faces properly cleaned of loose material, grooved and channeled, at regular predetermined distances, with due regard to the width of sample taken, to gain as near as humanly possible a result of actual value, without fear or favor to anyone concerned.
“Sample No. 139 returns values of $15.90 per ton in gold; Sample No. 140, $17.00; Sample No. 141, $44.00; Sample No. 142, $21.60; Sample No. 143, $22.00; Sample No. 144, $5.50; Sample No. 145, $15.00; Sample No. 146, $14.80; and Sample No. 147, $9.10.
“As you know, these samples were taken to Salt Lake, to be pulverized to the required mesh, and on June 4th were amalgamated by Mr. Fred Thompson, in our presence, afterwards sealing the gold in glass vials. I personally weighed the gold, with the results as tabulated.
“It might be well to state that no attempt is made here to go into locations, history, development, ore exposures, topographical or geological features, other than to state that all work, past, present and future plans, is carried on in a [182] businesslike, minerlike manner, and is impressive of good judgment, vision, personality and determination of Mr. Koyle.”
While the report of Dr. Frederick J. Pack states the complete absence of “ore,” the above report of Mr. Bestelmeyer proves ore of a commercial value to be present. Both men are competent in their respective fields. Mr. Bestelmeyer is a mining man of tried integrity and long experience, while Dr. Pack is a teacher of geology. It seems there is an inconsistency existing here that should be righted. The Koyle Mining Company accepts the report of Mr. Bestelmeyer, since his report was made from a non-partisan, unbiased standpoint and free from any exterior intimidating influences.
Dr. Pack, representing the State of Utah, took one set of eight samples from the Koyle Mining company property, and from a return of these samples draws the conclusion that the Koyle Mine “offers no hope for the future.” The Koyle Mining Company wishes to take the liberty to state that such a method of procedure is entirely unfair, unscientific, and un-satisfactory to our company.
Due to the fluctuating nature of the ore, varying from a few dollars one day to several hundred dollars on another day, as proved by careful daily assays made by the company, any one sample taken on any specific day could neither condemn nor justify the mine.
Supposing Dr. Pack and his party should have visited the Koyle Mine on a day when the company assayer surrendered returns of $444.00, as was done on November 9, 1932, what would have been the nature of his report?
The following letter was received by Mr. John H. Koyle:
[183]
Provo, Utah, Sept. 20, 1932.
Mr. John H. Koyle,
Spanish Fork, Utah
Dear Friend Koyle: I was very much impressed today on my brief visit to your gold mill and especially so in the clean appearance and workmanlike manner in which your instructions are carried out.
I take this means of expressing to you my desire to help you in any manner possible, for I fully realize the pressure and strain that you labor under from day to day.
In retrospection I can see Uncle Jesse Knight, a man of vision, struggling with poverty to find the Humbug Mine and later the famous Iron Blossom Channel.
I see John Bestelmeyer, the Pioneer of East Tintic, ridiculed as a visionary Dutchman, and I see E. J. Raddatz and his now famous goat ranch striving to convince the people of Utah of the hidden wealth at their very doorstep.
And now for a few opinions formed during 25 years of active mining, the first of which is that geology does not make a mine (in the State of Utah). The Mercur District, the Silver Reef and the Copper deposit at the Big Indian in San Juan County, as types are geological impossibilities and yet they do occur.
If the metal production of the world depended upon the ability of the geologist and mining engineer, the major part of civilization would still be wearing breech clouts, living in log huts and getting their daily existence with bow and arrow. As a matter of fact, time, natural disintegration, erosion, and Old Man Dig More are the principal factors surrounding every mining camp discovered up to date.
The geologist is persistently put upon the defensive for the simple reason that Mother Nature writes upon the vaults of her hidden riches a message in a language unknown to those scholarly, book-reading, so-called engineers.
[184] I maintain that a prospector with a jackass for a partner will find more ore in place in a given length of time than all the geologists in Salt Lake City.
For many years prior to the coming of E. J. Raddatz into the East Tintic District, I had personally guided engineers, geologists, mining experts and doodle-bug artists over the large outcrops in the vicinity of the Tintic Standard Mine, only to have again and again their theoretical arguments on weak mineralization, cold solutions, detrimental faulting and other poppy-cock stock in trade.
Years later it was my luck to stand beside a reputable engineer connected with a large mining and smelting company and hear this man condemn the mine; and yet he stood with feet firmly placed on ore that later paid millions in dividends.
I distinctly heard him ridicule the ore in sight as worthless sulfide, filled with a few white specks.
Knowing this and much more, I want to pass on this thought to you: Keep up the good work and the day will surely come when your faith and hopes will be fully realized.
With the best of wishes to all, I remain, sincerely,
John M. Bestelmeyer
284 East 4th North, Provo, Utah
I, John H. Koyle, hereby declare that all the above samples were taken from the Koyle Mine; that these statements are true; that we have had values and have them at the present time.
(Signed) John H. Koyle
January 27, 1933
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[185] Chapter 12
BISHOP KOYLE’S DREAM MINE PROPHECIES
by Lyman S. Wood
This pamphlet was published probably in the late 1960’s, and was dedicated to J. Golden Kimball, who was Bishop Koyle’s Mission President in Tennessee in about 1888.
Bishop Koyle’s Dream Mine Prophecies
by Lyman S. Wood
Introduction
One time Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith decided to comb the Dream Mine out of the Brethren’s minds for all time. He wrote a seven or eight page paper (against the Dream Mine) to give at the following Conference.
The Lord gave a revelation to Koyle, saying this paper must not be given. Koyle summoned J. Golden Kimball and Kimball came at once and said, “Here I am. What can I do for you?” Koyle said, “Joseph Fielding has written a seven or eight page article (condemning the Dream Mine), and he intends giving it at the following Conference. The Lord does not want it given at all. You must go and stop him.”
- Golden said, “Not me; I’m a lowly Seventy and he’s an Apostle. It would be like a lamb sticking his head in the lion’s mouth!” Koyle shook Kimball by the coat sleeves, and said, “J. Golden, the Lord hates a coward.” Kimball said, “I’ll go, but I won’t have any faith.” Koyle said, “You go, and I’ll have the faith.”
[186] The following morning Kimball put his head in Smith’s office, and was greeted by, “What can I do for you?” Then Kimball said, “I came here to do something for you. You have written a seven or eight page article against the Dream Mine.” Smith blew his top, and said, “Who told you? I never told anyone at all.” Kimball said, “The Lord revealed it to Bishop Koyle, and he does not want it given at all.” (This was probably about 1934.) Smith tore up the paper.
Dream Mine Prophecies
The truths about hundreds of Dream Mine prophecies, made thru Bishop John H. Koyle, are listed hereon for your reading pleasure.
About 1887, Mr. Koyle had seen in vision where there was an exceedingly rich silver mine in East Tintic. Being a religious man, he asked advice of his bishop. He was immediately told that if Brigham Young were here, he would tell him to leave it alone and pursue farming. In 1916 a man by the name of Raddatz and his associates opened up the Tintic Standard Mine on this very spot. Its stock went from 1› per share to a maximum of $18.00 per share on the New York Stock Exchange. It has now produced over $75 million, and its interest is still very much alive and is valuable.
Mr. Koyle had lost a young heifer for about ten days. In a dream he saw this heifer in a place across the railroad tracks, and she had broken her horn and it was sticking in her eye. Mr. Koyle went there and found her just as he had dreamed. This was probably in 1887.
In 1887 he was called to go on a mission by an unseen voice. About three weeks later on, men from Salt Lake City were in that vicinity, saw Elder Koyle, and asked him if he would go on a mission. In due time he received his official call from Salt Lake City, and it was from Box B.
[187] While on this mission in about 1888, he saved the life of his Mission President, J. Golden Kimball, through a remarkable dream.
The wife of Elder Koyle and Elder Koyle had each written letters to each other, and it was to the effect that the railroad company was surveying right thru the middle of their farm, which would do much damage. His wife saw the men surveying and then Elder Koyle saw them in a dream, and their letters passed each other in transit. Elder Koyle went into the woods and prayed that the stakes might be pulled up and moved to another location so it would not do too much damage to their farm. It happened.
Elder Koyle was taken thru the mountain east of Salem, Utah, by Angel Moroni. This was in the spirit, and it was the latter part of August 1894. They went three nights straight. Elder Koyle was shown everything in blueprint form about the mine, so that he would know exactly how to open it up when the time came.
On the 30th of August 1894, his neighbor was drilling a well across the street from Koyle’s home in Leland, Utah. It was against all advice of many who had previously had a residence in that area. The angel asked Mr. Koyle that if they hit water there by noon tomorrow, and took the drill away by 4:00 p.m., would he then go up on the mountain and start the mine. Elder Koyle said he would, and it happened just that way.
After Elder Koyle had been turned down by his bishop, he decided to go to a higher authority this time for advice. He went to his stake president, Jonathan Page, and told his entire story. President Page went to Apostle George Teasdale, who at that time was acting President of the Church for four counties [188] in the area where this mine was located. Apostle Teasdale said he would go to the Lord that night, and give his answer in a few days time. Next time he met President Page, he told him to tell Elder Koyle that the mission was from the Lord, and for him to do everything he had been shown to do and to use much diligence at all times. On September 3rd, 1894, Koyle took a man by the name of Brockbank up on the mountain to see if they could find the exact spot where they were to start this mine. It was very hot with the sun shining. At Koyle’s request, Brockbank went to a place where they saw a light from heaven on a bush, and he struck his pick right into the center of this place; it was a bush. Koyle said if this is the right place, there will be a leader within three feet; so they started to dig in the mountainside. When they had gone 18 inches, they found this leader, informing them it was the right place. It was a similar situation comparable to the burning bush in the time of Moses many thousands of years before.
Koyle and his men actually surveyed and took up eight claims on 9-8-1894. They started work on September 17, 1894. For the first several years, they worked the mine a few months in the winter time, and worked their farms about 7 or 8 months in the summertime. Koyle also put up twice as much food supplies, etc., as any other man. They all took stock in the mine later on when it was incorporated in 1909, for their work.
Koyle was shown there would be five M’s, namely mining, milling, manufacturing, merchandising, and minting. This would be in the corporation.
In about 1910, an angel from heaven had Koyle and his wife go to the temple to receive their Second Anointings.
[189] About 1910 Koyle told a group that he would buy the dinners for the group if there was not an electric power plant on the Spanish Fork River within a given time. Koyle seemed to always be a winner.
In 1911 Koyle told another group he would buy their dinners if there was not a powder plant built on the bench south of Mapleton, Utah. It so turned out that Koyle was right again.
The morning of January 11th, 1914, Koyle said, “You, Lars Olsen, and you, William Gammell, and you, William Pierce, take your picks, shovels, powder caps and fuse, etc., and go down the ravine on the north side of Knob Hill, and you will find two bare spots. That’s where we’ll start the long tunnel which will run to the southeast for a long ways. There were three feet of snow on that side of the hill. Talk about doubts when he mentioned two bare spots! Lars Olson went much faster, and finally he found them, and he yelled to the others, “Come here; I have found them!” Lars Olson told me in Salt Lake City about 1943 the two bare spots were two perpendicular cliffs that were sticking about three feet above the snow.
In about 1908 Koyle was made the bishop of his ward in Leland, Utah. He served well until about 1913, when Apostle Francis M. Lyman attended their Sunday School, and he told all the people to bring pencils in the afternoon and they would be given a chance to vote for their new bishop. Koyle received exactly 100% of the votes. This was such a slap in Lyman’s face, and in the end it was necessary for him to appoint the First Counselor to be the new Bishop. Koyle was by long odds the people’s choice.
In about 1914, Bishop Koyle was given orders to close down the mine else he would be in danger of being excom-[190]municated from the Church. They didn’t say this then, but they had said he was getting most of his money from widows, and beating them out of their life’s savings.
Finally, in 1920 it was discovered that the Spanish Fork co-op had $1,800 coming from supplies, etc., furnished the mine. Pres. Grant sent word for them to collect this money from Koyle. Koyle told the man he did not owe it, but the mine did. They were closed down. Since the ZCMI (Brothers) owned this Co-op, Pres. Grant permitted them to open the mine, which they did and soon paid off this entire debt. Thus beating more widows out of their life’s savings. Koyle surely had their number.
Koyle gave great hopes to the mothers of the men that belonged to the 145th Field Artillery, a Utah outfit. Bishop had seen they would never go over the top in France, in World War I. Finally they began moving in to the front. A news article in the Tribune said, “145th Had Gone over the Top.” Fred Squires from Salt Lake went to see the Bishop, and he asked him about it, showing him these headlines. The Bishop paused a moment and then said, “Fred, that paper is telling a lie.” Talk about revelation! When Squires was on his way home, he saw much celebration in several cities because the war was over. The Tribune came out with an extra that afternoon retracting their wrong statement of that morning. Koyle was right again.
In 1912 President Joseph F. Smith said the next temple would be built in Northern Mexico. This was because the LDS Saints in seven small communities were prospering with cattle, sheep, lands, etc. Bishop had been shown in a dream the LDS would be driven out of Mexico into Southern Arizona, and all they could bring was what they could haul in wagons or carry on their backs. Koyle told his Uncle Frank Woodward, who was a religious man, that he wished President Smith had [191] not made that prophecy. It made Woodward so very angry at his nephew for taking issue against the President of the Church, that he went to President Smith the next morning and turned Koyle in. This caused a sharp dividing line from then on. In fact, they were extremely bitter against Koyle from then on. No temple in Mexico in 1968.
In about 1925, the deceased President Joseph F. Smith came to Koyle in vision to see that his books were always in perfect shape, to avoid trouble.
In about April of 1925, Koyle went to Mountain City, Nevada, where he was to be foreman for the Silver Banner Mining Co., now known as the Golden Ensign Mining Co. In those days there was no road from Elko as now. It was necessary to take a bus from Wells, Nevada, a distance of about 110 miles, all on a dirt road. When they were less than two miles from Mountain City, the Bishop yelled, “Stop!” They all got out of the bus; it was 10 p.m. and too dark to see at all, except by the headlights of the bus. Koyle said, pointing to the dump of the Silver Banner Mine, “Brethren, it has just come to me that this is the richest silver mine in the entire world.” They returned from Mountain City the next morning, and they saw their footprints in the dust, and Koyle was so right again. Inspiration?
While at Mountain City for 15 months, where no LDS Church was, Koyle crossed the Small Owyhee River to look at the 15 claims the company owned on the west side of the river. He also looked over many claims to the south of these claims. He told the directors they should take up 15 or 20 claims to the south, because they were very rich in copper. They told him they had too many claims now to do the assessment work on. About nine years went by, and all at once a Mr. Frank Hunt took up all these claims and it turned out the stock which was 1› a share, jumped like a whirlwind, and it went to a high of [192] $18.00 per share on the New York Stock Exchange. In the next 12 years the Mountain City Copper Company took out $47 million of high grade copper. Koyle was so right again for the nth time.
In 1929, the latter part of June, Bishop had a dream where he saw all of Wall Street was going down, and that in time all the banks of the nation would be closed down for a short while. He went into the Bank of Spanish Fork, where his stake president was also his banker. He was named Henry Gardner. He said, “President Gardner, do you loan money on sheep and cattle?” Gardner said, “Yes, they are our bread and butter.” Koyle then told him that in four months from that very day, that Wall Street was going down. Gardner said, “Bishop Koyle, I have always believed everything you have said, and I shall call in all these loans. But,” he continued, “If that does not happen, it will be best that you get out of the country, because I will be plenty mad at you.” He then wrote it down on a small piece of paper and filed it away.
One day when Koyle was passing the bank, Gardner called him in. He said, “Bishop Koyle, your four months are up. I am pretty mad at you. What have you got to say for yourself?” Koyle told him that his four months were not up until tomorrow. Gardner said, “No, you don’t. I recorded it,” and he started to look all through his desk to prove it. Koyle said, “President Gardner, it is in that red book right there.” Sure enough, Koyle had one more day; and the next day Wall Street went down fifty five billions of dollars. In early 1933, Pres. Roosevelt declared an embargo on gold. This caused all the banks to close down for one week. Revelation–Koyle proved it again.
In 1930 Koyle said, “The man on the donkey would be elected, and he would go in again, again, and again–four times in all. Remember?
[193] In about 1920 Ben Bullock, who had been a splendid worker for the Dream Mine in times past, was sitting in Salt Lake City, and early that morning he thought he saw that he should go and take up all the Dream Mine claims. He caught an early train to Provo, and got his buggy and drove to the nearest part he could get to where he was to place his own notices on the claims so they would belong to him. This he did. Soon thereafter, Koyle found it out and he prayed that Bullock would not be able to eat, or sleep, or drink, until he returned those claims to Koyle. A few days went by, when early one day Koyle went to Provo, and it happened he met Bullock who said, “Bishop I must return these claims to you, because I have not been able to eat, or sleep, or drink. I want to return them to you.” Koyle was right again.
In 1944, when Mark E. Petersen was made an apostle, Bishop said, “He will be our worst enemy.” It so happened just that way.
The Bishop saw in 1914 that his former Mission President, J. Golden Kimball, would come to visit him later on, and he would buy 500 shares of stock. Kimball was a regular visitor to see the Bishop about once a year. Finally, about 1932, Kimball said, “I am going to buy some stock from you today.” Koyle said, “I know how many shares you will buy.” Kimball could not keep up with Koyle, but he said, “I will put in $750. This bought exactly 500 shares. Koyle took him into the office where the books were, and there was a certificate made out to Kimball for 500 shares. It had been made out about 18 years before.
Koyle had his very last run-in with Apostle James E. Talmage in about 1932. Talmage had given Koyle and the Dream Mine much trouble before them.
[194] A lawsuit against the Dream Mine happened in January 1933. It was instigated by Apostle James E. Talmage. The Dream Mine won the case, and after a short time that same afternoon, Apostle Talmage, who was at his desk in the temple in a wheelchair, was found dead, and The Deseret News was in his hands–opened to the exact page where Talmage had been reading, giving the account of this lawsuit.
About that same time another lawsuit was brought against the Dream Mine, and one of the other Apostles found several Dream Miners who had stock in the Mine. His thought was that since Dr. Talmage had run several bad news items in The Deseret News to the effect that the Church condemned the Dream Mine, he was certain these men would testify against Bishop Koyle. The judge at the Capitol Building in Salt Lake was trying the case, and he had several of these men come to the stand to testify of their feelings about Koyle. After about seven or eight of them had borne solemn testimony very strongly for Bishop Koyle, the judge said, “If we can have Bishop So & So come to the stand and dismiss us, we will adjourn this case in favor of the mine.”
Koyle said that probably in the thirties the mine would come in after the streetcar tracks were taken up in Salt Lake City. They took them up in the year 1945, as near as I remember.
Koyle said in about 1930 that the President of the U.S., when the mine came in, would die in office. Could this be in 1968?
In the thirties, Koyle said not long after the mine came in, that U.S. money would become totally worthless. Since we owe for debts of our city, county, state and nation, probably two trillions of dollars, I ask you could this happen in 1969?
[195] Many years ago, probably in 1930, Koyle saw millionaires in the bread lines. Suppose this could happen in 1969 or 1970? Watch and see.
In the thirties Bishop said that two out of every three would die or be killed when the judgments of God came, and this would be true all around the entire world. Could this happen in 1970?
Koyle gave progress reports of things that would happen inside of the mine, and he gave probably one each month or so. This is what kept up a great amount of interest for the miners to look forward to.
Koyle said in Fredonia, Arizona, at the breakfast table in the home of Dr. Brooksby, that World War II would be over and won by the Axis powers in just less than three years from that date. It was on the 28th of August 1942, when he made that remark. It finally turned out that Pres. Harry S. Truman proclaimed peace on the 14th day of August, 1945. This just happened to be on Koyle’s 81st birthday.
On Sunday, August 12th, 1945, about 25 of us had been called down to the mine for a special two-hour prayer meeting. There had been a man that had worked on about three or four of these Dream Mine claims. Try as they would he would not leave. In fact, he would defy them to put him off. Koyle told us that he was sure we could pray him off the hill. Many or several objected and wanted to resort to law. Bishop said no; we will pray him off. The man that offered the first prayer, his prayer was so powerful that it almost shook the ground where we were kneeling. The second man that Bishop asked (the Bishop did not know his name), but said, “The man next to Steve.” This man prayed for the Lord to put into his mouth what he should say. He then prayed the encroacher would not have [196] peace of mine, and that he would voluntarily come to the Bishop and make his own terms about leaving all his claims and going off the hill. In a few days, early one morning this man appeared to Koyle’s home and said, “Koyle, you want me to leave the hill; now here are the terms that I will leave on. You give me $500 for my five years work and I will deed everything, claims, tunnel, water and cabin all over to you. I have been too lonesome, and I feel that I will have peace if I go away. The money was paid, and it was like the second man said.
In about August of what I remember as 1946, about 25 or 30 of us Dream Miners met the Bishop near the top of Knob Hill. The Bishop pointed to a spot above the roadway, which looked like a slide of land in some wet season had taken off say a piece of land on the hillside of probably ten feet wide and 15 or 20 feet long–up and down a steep hillside. Bishop pointed to a point and said, “If we dig in there a few feet, we will find the tunnel where we first started the mine.” One Dream Miner started to probe his bar, thinking he could open up this tunnel with the end of his bar. The Bishop told him to move the point of his bar over about 15 inches to the east, which the man did, and in a moment or two he had shoved his bar into the tunnel. It surely pleased everyone, and the Bishop was right again.
A man was appointed to have a monument made and placed just off to the side of this place, which is there today, testifying that this tunnel was where the Dream Mine was first started in 1894. A truly remarkable thing to do.
One time in about 1946 an attorney who was quite interested in the Mine, and sometimes he attended the Thursday night meetings, said to the Bishop, “How are you going to stop the Government from taking about 94% of the gold away from you?” The Bishop said, “Turney, there ain’t goin’ to be no Government when the Mine comes in!”
[197] One time in about 1940 or before: when the Mine comes in, there would be a light on top of the Dream Mine Mountain. In about 1960 the telephone company placed that light up there.
One time in probably the middle thirties a Stake President in Salem, Utah, had been pretty hard on the Bishop when he had an opportunity to do so; he had all of his barns, stock and machinery burn up in one night; while his ten acres of peas, which he had been given instruction to harvest in the next day or two, were laid flat on the ground by a terrific hail storm. His neighbor’s peas across the fence were not even touched. “A good aim!” This Stake President said, “I must have done something displeasing to the Lord.” Some day it is to be hoped he will repent.
Bishop saw that after the Mine came in, that all the churches and schools would be closed down for a while. He saw this in about 1930.
One time about 1930 it was made known to the Bishop that he would have a partner in the Mine. It happened the State of Utah traded a section of land down in the southern part of Utah to the Government for Section 16 which just happened to be 640 acres right over the richest part of the nine rooms. This will give Utah 12-1/2 per cent of all the gold taken out of that area without them working at all for it. In addition, they have been receiving $320 per year ever since then, about 37 or 38 years now.
The Bishop saw in about 1914 that in time the horses would be left home. The new king of carriages that people would use would have two eyes so they could see at night time.
[198] He also saw these new vehicles would get larger and larger until they would become as large as box cars. They would travel through the country at night at a very great speed. Then it would be most unsafe to cross the street day or night. Look at those large semi-trailers–even larger than box cars.
The Bishop said the Mine would come in as follows: The fourth finger of the five fingers of the right-hand drift would produce the first gold. Then the wintz which is 275 feet below the main tunnel would produce second. This would be an 18-foot-wide vein which would run 2,000 feet and come into the nine rooms. It was described by the Bishop as being a very rich vein of ant sand so to speak. Very rich. Then we were permitted to go almost straight down for 100 feet when they would strike an exceedingly hard surface which would be three feet thick, and it would require about thirty days to drill through it. At that time we would strike a very rich chimney of ore which would go down another 175 feet and come right into the nine rooms. As soon as the miners drilled through this very hard three-foot-thick material, which was called the “capstone”, then and not until then, were we permitted to entirely equip the mine with modern machinery. All, up to that time, was entirely hand drilling.
Bishop saw that this gold was so very rich that if they did not use it for what it was intended, they would have it taken away from them and they would never find it again, regardless of how many men and machinery they used to find it.
The Bishop had it made known unto him, probably in 1914, I am not sure, but they would build a grain elevator which would hold one million bushels of grain. This would be to keep many, many thousands of people from starving during the time of famine. At the very same time, he saw that the [199] 315,000 [bushel] grain elevator built at Welfare Square, Salt Lake City, would be entirely empty, right at the time it would be most needed. What a terrible pity!
He also saw that we would buy our wheat at 50› to 60› per bushel, and that it would be bought out of the first and second years of crops in those famine years. He looked up and down the state everywhere on the third year of famine, and he could not buy a bushel of wheat for a bushel of gold. That tells me we should store food for three years during the famine time.
Bishop saw there were three tunnels that went down into the nine rooms. There would be the one at the end of the long tunnel–the one that we will use. Then there are two more that were built by the ancients. One of them was most of the way down the hill to the south side of Knob Hill, and men have been in many feet in our time. Then the third tunnel is all the way down to the bottom of the ravine or gully, and across to the other side, and at the foot of some high cliffs is the hieroglyphic tunnel which was used by undoubtedly the Jaredites. I am not certain whether the Nephites used it or not.
Bishop saw that our children and their children and generations to come would never live long enough to mine out all the gold in this mine. Also that it would have more gold than all the total amount of gold in the entire world.
In 1894 it was made known to the Bishop that under no circumstances would he be permitted to place brothers on the Board of Directors.
Bishop said that right at the last (he told a miner in 1920) that a group of men would get hold of the Mine and they would not be able to make the Mine produce gold because of [200] lack of inspiration, but that a great amount of credit was due them for keeping up all the assessment work for so many years. This would amount to over $10,000 of money or work for almost 20 full years. Probably around $250,000 in all.
It so happened that about 550 people came to the Bishop’s funeral when he passed away in 1949. This was an all-time record for a place the size of Spanish Fork. The cortege was about 3-1/2 blocks long. I mean just the ones that went to the cemetery.
One of the Bishop’s greatest friends was asked to dedicate the grave, etc. Among other wonderful things, he was inspired to say, “Bishop Koyle will yet live on the earth, in the flesh, to complete the work the Lord called him to do. This will happen as sure as the sun shines.”
Almost at death, probably one or two minutes before, one of the used-to-be miners was in the hospital and witnessed this great event, namely that, “The Bishop sat up in bed and stretched forth his arms and said, `Joseph, I will come to you.'” What a glorious ending to a great man!
Bishop said that right after the Mine came in, there would be two men from the east, and they would bring suitcases filled with gold, and stack it on the dining room table in great stacks, and offer it all to the Bishop for his Mine. The Bishop only smiled and said, “No.”
Bishop said this stock would go to a high of $6,000 per share, and he saw that people would go to court for one-half of one share.
A very learned man from Payson, Utah, (one of the Bishop’s Directors), talked to the Bishop one day, and said it would be too bad if record was never made of these great [201] prophecies and told the Bishop that if it pleased the Bishop, he would be very happy to give of his time and record them in full as the Bishop gave them to him. The Bishop said, “No, I am waiting for Sam Taylor of Provo.”
In probably the very early twenties, the Bishop was on top of the hill and they noticed extra heavy black clouds half-way down the mountain all around the entire country. It was most discouraging. The Bishop told his men he wanted to be alone. So he walked part-way around on the west side of Knob Hill and he knelt down and prayed to the Lord for some relief. As soon as he arose, he saw a tiny clear blue spot way out in the northwest. It went all the way into the clear blue sky. In just a few minutes, a wind came up and drove all the dark clouds completely away. Later on when the Bishop went to Mountain City, Nevada, it was made known to him that this was the tiny clear spot in the dark clouds; and it was what is now the Golden Ensign Mine, and that it was to come in a short while before the Dream Mine. It would be first.
The Bishop also said there would be a light complexioned man from the north, that would come down here right at the last, and he would bring plenty of money in his pocket and in one or two rounds of holes they would strike the rich gold ore in the fourth finger of the five fingers in the right-hand drift.
Bishop saw probably in the twenties they would strike platinum in the right-hand drift. The stock jumped to $10 per share. The Bishop told them not to buy because this would soon blow over. But he continued, the next time we strike ore, it will never blow over.
The Dream Mine will build a large bank about 200 feet or so to the northwest of the north end of the concrete retaining wall, which was built many years ago, and it is below the place [202] where the grain bins will be built. This bank, soon after the Mine comes in, will have its vaults filled with gold, and when the company loans money to poor people at from 0% to as high as 4%, according to whether they were well to do or poor, the banks in the land would rise up in anger and try to make the Mine loan money at 8 or 10 percent like the banks were doing, and because the Mine had all the gold in the country, the banks would be powerless to do anything.
He also saw the Mine would come in after a hard winter followed by a water-logged spring, then a dry hot summer, and when the wheat was in the boot, the Bishop came out of the tunnel with the first gold in his hands.
One time in about 1919, it was when the Bishop was still living in Idaho, he heard one evening every word that Peter C. Carlson was saying to his wife up in the Avenues in Salt Lake City. He and his wife were going to catch the train that same evening for Salt Lake City. They arrived at probably around 7:00 a.m., and he at once called Peter C. Carlson on the phone. Peter was so nice that he drove down and took the Bishop and his wife up to the Carlson’s home for breakfast. Afterwards, the Bishop told Peter C. every word he had said the evening before. Peter denied it all, and finally Peter’s wife said, “Peter, why don’t you stop lying to the Bishop.”
Here is a real honey, and it will save people’s lives if they will heed this most wonderful advice. The Bishop said, probably in the thirties, that when the Mine comes in, we have a queer lot of Dream Miners, that want to do many things. One would buy a large automobile and tour many countries in the world; many would buy large ranches and stock them well with cattle; and Parley, here, would charter a ship and go down into Central America and hire a lot of men and uncover one of those ancient temples, and bring his findings back and give them to [203] the BYU. Well now, Bishop Koyle will tell you the most important thing for you to do. You should have your houses filled with a large amount of food, and go inside and cut off your radio, TV, your telephone, and your daily papers. You will not want to know what is going on in the outside world at all. I saw that two out of every three people on the earth would lose their lives from starving, or from being killed on account of the judgments of God that would be in full swing. I saw that I could walk great distances right here in Utah, by stepping from one man’s dead body to the other. After you get inside your houses, you will be in there for quite some time. To me, my own opinion would be we would be there for the third and fourth years of famine, and probably another one because there was such a shortage of seeds to plant that there was not an abundance until the sixth year. I have been wrong before, and the best thing to do is to pray to Him for advice.
The Bishop said that if people could travel very far, this being the richest gold mine in the entire world anywhere, there would be many whores, gamblers, drunkards, confidence men, and what have you. All of them would be trying to make a stake for themselves. God will not permit this on His works.
Bishop still lived in Idaho in about 1918, when all of a sudden he got put into the Bishopric in Oakley, Idaho. While there, he made a record of having many more young men go on missions than they had ever before had. Soon though it was all to end. Dr. James E. Talmage, of the Twelve Apostles, heard of this and he went to Oakley and had the Bishop removed from that office.
I have been told by the Bishop that the first shipment of gold would be a small piece in the paper, near the mining page, and few people would see it. It would be about one inch long in the paper. At this same date and on this same paper there [204] would be four-inch headlines. We were never told what those headlines would be about. My speculation would be “WAR ENDS!”–just a guess.
Also, when the second shipment of gold was made, there would be a jam at the mountain, and hundreds of people would never get up there to be in the midst of it. I understood this jam would reach for several miles.
One time before the thirties the Bishop saw that when they reached the place in the Long Tunnel for the turn down into the nine rooms, there would be a snow storm very much out of season and it would go half way down the mountain. It happened one time in June, as two men from Mapleton, Utah, saw early one morning. They saddled their horses and went immediately to the Mine; they got the Bishop and showed it to him, and they went into the Tunnel; and a few days’ digging down at this spot, proved it to be the right place.
In building this modern flotation mill on the steep hillside, one of the Bishop’s very best carpenters said he could not build a mill without a blueprint. The Bishop knew it was an expense for nothing. They finally hired a Mr. Pope from Salt Lake City, who made his survey in the field, and set out to design a mill. The only thing was, each time he would come with some blueprints, the Bishop had that part of the mill already finished. The Lord showed the Bishop what to do.
Bishop saw and told this in the early twenties. They would cut down the size of the greenbacks. You’ll remember we used to have greenbacks about one and one-half times the size of what they are today. The miner that he told this to kept one of the $5.00 bills, which is redeemable in gold. I saw it recently.
[205] Also, he saw where the water would run down the streets of Salt Lake City. In the spring of about 1951 we had a real river of about three feet deep running west on 13th South. The streetcars went across on a bridge that was elevated at least four feet. Both sides of the street were sandbagged to a height of about four feet. I saw a man in about an 18-foot boat going west from State Street.
He also said prices would go higher and higher, and all at once something happened, and in one night the props would be knocked out from under everything and down would come everything. This condition would be brought about by strikes. It really looks like the time of this could be within the next few months’ time.
He also saw the man in the President’s office would die in office, just a while after the Mine came in, and he saw them look up and down the country everywhere to try to find a man to take his place, and they would not be able to find one, and the nation wandered in chaos. That’s how bad it will get. Also, he said all the mines would be closed down, and now think of it–the copper strike may be settled for awhile, but at best it will be temporary.
Bishop said, “There will not be anything in the country anywhere that you will not have your hands in.”
Bishop told the miner that worked for him in 1920 that they would call in all the gold in not many years. Do you remember this happened in 1933?
Bishop told a miner that worked for him in 1910 that there must be three things happen before the Mine would amount to much. First, the church would be set in order; second, the Dream Mine would come in; and third, the nation would collapse and its money become worthless. We [206] learned through the Bishop we would have nine months to build grain bins and store food, and that would be the longest that money would be good.
In the thirties the Bishop said that Russia would invade the eastern shores of Canada and the United States, and get as far as the Mississippi River, and that Priesthood powers from heaven would drive them out of the lands, and that Old Glory would always be safe. (See Doc. & Cov. Sec. 133:58.)
Bishop said we would have four years of famine here in Utah, and there would be seven years in the world. The fifth year here would be ever so scarce because of a shortage of seeds to plant. The sixth year the rains came and there would be an abundance from then on. One-third of the people is all that would enjoy it.
In 1914 the Bishop was shown that Heber J. Grant would be the next President of the Church, and he would fill the stakes of Zion with the rich and the learned, and together they would drive the Church into the wilderness. Do you remember just what happened? Among our leaders today, we have one that lives in a penthouse on North Main, while another lives in a swanky hotel private apartment. Compare this with the Savior, who said, “The foxes have holes and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lie his head.”
He said also, the Church, the State, and the Nation would be brought up a standin’, like a wild colt to the snubbing post.
Bishop told a miner in 1920 that Joseph Smith would go into their private office in the Church Office Building, and they would say, how did you get in here? Whereon Joseph would fire every last jack one of them and set them on three little stools over in the corner.
[207] Bishop begged the people to pray for the Authorities to repent from the evil practices they were doing, and if they don’t change, they will go down and down and down, and they will become beggars and vagabonds and paupers; then he continued, “Whate’er they goin’ to do? Where’er they goin’ to go? Where’er they goin’ to hide?” This is the way the Bishop talked.
When the Mine came in, he saw men shake their fists in the Authorities’ faces and say, “You kept me out of this.” How’s that for a honey?
Bishop was the happiest he had ever been when he saw the Church accept the Dream Mine. Then he added, You will have to go up and down this State and preach for the people to stand behind the Authorities of this Church. The last time I ever heard him say that, he added, “I have never told you who the Authorities would be.” Please see Doc. & Cov., 1:19 & 35:13. Do you think this could cut any ice?
The Bishop said, “If the men on South Temple Street would have held the Priesthood, he wouldn’t have been excommunicated in 1948.
Last but not least–the compiler of these truths knows that at least 95% of them are correct. That is, I know the Bishop made these prophecies. Inasmuch as I have received about 12 to 14 of these prophecies from men that worked for the Bishop for about nine months, one year, two years, and one man even worked and lived at the Mine for several months after the Bishop’s death, and also lived there with the Bishop for about three years. Now these men had no other motive in their hearts but to tell what the Bishop had said in their presence. I believe them for the other five percent. But as an attorney would say, “It’s hearsay evidence;” I must admit that [208] I did not hear it myself. But I do believe it. It is possible for a mistake or two to creep into my own 95%, and also there could be a mistake in those four men who worked at the Mine.
I must add this gem–when the two messengers talked to the Bishop the early morning of January 10, 1914, with the shorter one doing all the talking, Bishop was told he would get to tell his story to one of the Presidents of this Church. Under an odd set of circumstances, Bishop Koyle was made acquainted with President Ivins by Peter C. Carlson on the Hotel Utah corner. This was probably in May of 1920. President Ivins said, “Are you the head of the Dream Mine?” Bishop said he was. President Ivins said, “How’s your time?” Bishop said, “My time is your time.” So they went arm in arm to the Church Office Building. It had been raining, and now the sun was shining brightly. Several of the Apostles were out on the steps, and President Ivins and Bishop Koyle walked up the steps between them. They talked for nearly one hour. President Ivins asked, “Did you say this was going to build up Jackson County?” The Bishop said the owners of the stock could consecrate it to the Lord if they desired to, and in that way it might be used for that purpose. He then asked the Bishop, “Did you have any anger in your heart?” The Bishop said, “No, I just felt sorry for the ones that condemned us.” The Bishop’s answers seemed to satisfy President Ivins, and he then said to the Bishop, “You go and work your mine, and if you don’t, the people will render you.”
In about 1935, the deceased Apostle James E. Talmage appeared to Koyle and said, “Please forgive me.” The Bishop said, “Dr. Talmage, I’ll think that matter over.” Talmage said, “I have run against a stone wall, and I cannot progress. Now will you forgive me?” The Bishop said, “Dr. Talmage, after all you have done against the Dream Mine, I’ll think that matter over.” Talmage then said, “I take all the blame for turning the [209] entire Church against you, and using the columns of The Deseret News to sour the entire Church against you. Now will you forgive me?” Then the Bishop said, “Dr. Talmage, with that understanding, I now forgive you.” Dr. Talmage gracefully bowed and the vision was closed.
Bishop said, “Ancient sacred relics would be found in the Mine when we get to the place where the Nephites used to work, when they were living righteously. To ever find them, one would need to have the Spirit of the Lord, and under no other condition could anyone ever find them.
Koyle said that right at the last there would be a man come along with a new process that would entirely revolutionize the entire mining industry.
Koyle said after the Mine came in, many were sitting around and giving praise to God for this happy Christmas. Also that about 25 were wanting to put roses on Sister Koyle, and generally making fools of themselves.
Also he said, “We will have a mild open winter after the mine comes in, which will permit us to pour concrete all winter long to build the grain bins to hold a million bushels of wheat.”
And finally, I received this beautiful poem from an unbeliever:
Down south on Leland soil
There lived a man by the name of Koyle
Who had a dream, so I’ve been told
About a mine all rich in gold.
This gold is not for tax and bounty
But for the building up of Jackson County.
[210] Bishop Koyle, next to the Prophet Joseph Smith, had more visits with messengers, including an ancient prophet and a latter-day prophet, than any other of our day. He had a mission in this one way only, which compared to that of the Savior. “He was persecuted by those who should have loved him.”
About 1930 Bishop saw the following strange revelation:
Koyle had to go through a forest, and in the middle of it there was a table with three rattlesnakes lying on the table. Koyle sized it up in his vision and thought he could get by them safely. The smallest rattlesnake struck a blow at him and missed him. Then the snake crawled off the table and down under the floor and died. That was, Koyle said, a small geologist in Salt Lake City.
The middle-sized snake struck at Koyle several times, and finally it crawled off the table and down under the floor and died. That was a large geologist from Salt Lake City, Utah.
Koyle finally thought he may, by being extra careful, be able to get by the very large rattlesnake. It struck at Koyle many times, but each time Koyle was extra careful. Finally this largest snake crawled off the table and down under the floor and died. This was a great big Church man from Salt Lake City, Utah.
In a great vision, Bishop was visited by the Prophet Joseph, who said, “Bishop, come with me.” They met an Apostle, and Joseph dismissed him. We went again and met another Apostle, and Joseph dismissed him; they went again and met the third Apostle, and Joseph dismissed him. The Bishop said, “Joseph, are you going to do this to all of them?” Joseph said, “Yes, every last jack one of them. They have had their chance, and they have failed.”
[211] P.S. The top paragraph on page 12 [pages 202-203 of this publication] which refers to the storing of all kinds of foods, such as wheat, etc.–this happens when the second shipment of ore is made at the Dream Mine.
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These prophecies were furnished by about five or six men who worked at the Dream Mine and who heard Bishop Koyle make them. I would say that at least 80% of them were furnished by:
Lyman S. Wood
2074 East 9th South
Salt Lake City, Utah 84108
Phone: 363-9444
(50› each while they last)
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[212] Chapter 13
CONCLUSION
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matt. 24:21)
Wealth and riches can be either a great blessing or a great cursing to mankind. In spite of an abundance of wealth in nearly every nation today, most of the inhabitants of the earth are poor. Generally speaking, the rich are selfish and the poor are envious of it. In either case they are covetous of riches.
One of the problems with money, as Joseph Smith indicated, is “the big fish eating up all the little fish.” (DHC 6:33) Our generation is not much different from the Nephites, Jaredites, Egyptians, Romans, and all other nations that have become wealthy.
Riches may come quickly, but they may also disappear just as fast. Solomon understood this when he said, “For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.” (Prov. 23:5) It is not always luck or chance, knowledge or experience, that provides or removes wealth. Moses said, “Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth,…” (Deut. 8:18)
Riches have a tendency to turn a man’s mind and heart away from God. Like Jeshurun who “waxed fat and . . . then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.” (Deut. 32:15) Of what value was his wealth or of what value is anyone’s wealth if they lose sight of the Giver?
[213] In their search for riches, people should be aware that they are seeking for something that could be a curse to them instead of a blessing. Brigham Young warned:
How happy is such a person [who cherishes no malice or anger] when compared with the man who is constantly laboring to amass gold and property, making this his only end and aim. How the Devil will play with a man who so worships gain. (JD 10:174)
Most of the rich seldom think about God, so He often allows chaos, poverty, and misery to bring them “back to their senses.” If the world worships wealth, then they must pay the price. God has decreed that they will suffer the same consequences as the nations did at the time of Noah, for “as the days of Noe [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matt. 24:37)
All the prophets have looked to our time and have seen terrible judgments come upon the nations–such as famine, plagues, revolutions, destructions, and war. They have said that it would be so bad that very few would escape.
Bishop Koyle also described the coming catastrophes and saw that if this people did not have relief, very few of them would survive. He perhaps made hundreds of predictions and all of them have or will come to pass–according to his words and not necessarily according to the way some have interpreted them. Why should this little farmer in Salem, Utah, be given the ability to make so many accurate predictions? Was it to convince people that the story of the mine is true? Was it to convince people that the end of the world is near and to prepare for it? If his greatest prophecy pertaining to that mountain of gold were to come true, what would it mean to you?
[214] Whether true or false, each of us should make a decision as to its origin and purpose. If the warnings of both ancient and more recent prophets come to pass in our generation, what do we have for protection and safety? If the prophesied mission of the Relief Mine becomes a reality, what will those people say who have scoffed and ridiculed the Bishop for his dreams?
Only time will tell!
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[215] APPENDICES
1.Patriarchal Blessing of John H. Koyle
2.Dan Valentine’s Newspaper Column
3.Les Goats’ Newspaper Column
4.Article on 1983 Flood Prophecy
5.John Jordan’s List of Prophecies
6.Statements by Early Church Leaders
7.Statements by Later Church Leaders
8.Deseret News Excommunication Notice
9.Funeral Announcement
10.Salem Prophecy (Doc. & Cov. Section 111)
11.Photographs of Bishop Koyle and the Relief Mine
[217] APPENDIX 1
Patriarchal Blessing of John H. Koyle
Leland, Utah County, Utah
July 15, 1899
A blessing by Patriarch Chas. D. Evans upon the head of John Hyrum Koyle, son of John Hyrum and Adlinda Koyle, born Spanish Fork, Utah County, 14 August, 1864.
Brother John Hyrum, by virtue of my office as a Patriarch, I lay my hands upon thy head and pronounce and seal upon thee a Patriarchal Blessing as the Lord directs. Thou art of royal birth through the blood of Ephraim, thus art thou an heir to the blessings of the covenant, and the blood of thy royal lineage shall continue, for thy heirs shall possess the earth and the fulness thereof.
Every blessing of eternal covenant shall be sealed upon thee, and thou shalt be as a mighty tree whose roots are deeply grounded in the earth, for thou shalt be unmoved in thy faith, fearless of the enemies of truth, and no weapon shall prevail against thee. By thy faith thou shalt have power over the elements, and by care of thy body thou shall see Zion in her glory and aid in the building up of the Center Stake, for thou shalt be among the chosen and see the Lord’s great temple when the pillar of fire is upon it.
The Lord will honor thee and transmit thy name to thy generations. Thy example shall be as a shining flame to light others in the path of truth. Thou shalt never want for food, nor raiment, nor for habitation. Thy name shall be recorded with the great, and thou shalt be a judge in Israel and draw the line in equity between thy brother.
[218] I seal upon thee the attribute of wisdom; thy words will be seasoned therewith and thy judgments sound. In the day of trial, thou shalt be delivered, and every step in thy course shall lead thee nearer unto the Lord. For thou art one of the elect and the Lord shall hem thee in by His power and give thee control over the elements and the powers to seal up unto life and death.
Thy genealogy will be revealed and thou shalt labor in Holy Temples to perfect the work of thy dead. Thy latter days shall be glorious, and thou shall stand to receive thy inheritance and be a Great High Priest in thy closing years. Devils will be subject unto thee, and sickness depart by thy anointing. And I seal thee up unto the blessings of thrones and dominions of all heights and depths, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
[219] APPENDIX 2
The The Deseret News, Wednesday, August 29, 1973
Dan Valentine’s Nothing Serious
PROPHET: A Utah mining tycoon–now deceased–predicted inflation and the devaluation of the American dollar years ago. His name was John H. Koyle. He owned and operated the famous Dream Mine near Salem, Utah. When John Koyle wasn’t mining, he was looking into the future. He was pretty good at it, too.
He predicted the 1929 stock market crash–almost to the day. And he predicted inflation and the fall of the U.S. dollar. He said the big financial upset would take place around presidential election time. He said that a U.S. President would die, and immediately the U.S. dollar would plunge and become worth about 20 cents. . . He said the nation would return to solid gold coinage, and do away with paper money.
And he said there would be great inflation in the land, predicting that food would be so scarce it would take a bushel of gold to buy a bushel of wheat. Amid the economic chaos, Koyle predicted that the U.S. government would fall apart. Both the Republican and Democratic parties would disintegrate, and there wouldn’t be one man in the entire nation strong enough to hold the nation together. Actually, he said, there would be no government at all. And he also predicted that foreign countries would take advantage of the situation.
Koyle predicted that Russia would eventually invade the United States, and the Red armies would get as far as the Missouri River–where the Yanks would stop’em cold. At the same time, he predicted that China would invade the West Coast–but they wouldn’t get past the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Looking ahead, Koyle predicted a lot of civil strife in the United States–class against class, race against race. . . And he said Russia would conquer all of Europe and most of Asia. And there would be a great world war in the Mideast over Palestine.
Remember, these predictions were made by John Koyle years and years ago. . . He died an old man in 1949. But don’t get the idea that Koyle was a complete pessimist. He predicted a lot of dire happenings in the future of the United States. But he held out a lot of hope, too. He said after the government collapsed, and after the invading Russians and Chinese were defeated, the United States would rally as a nation and become greater than ever.
He predicted that many new large cities would grow in the West, and that the people would love each other and get along together, and there wouldn’t be any rich class or any poor class–just happy people working together and living together happily and in peace. But, before this all happens, Koyle said there was going to be a great famine in the United States . . . and many people would starve to death. Well, let’s hope John Koyle was wrong in his predictions. After all, he didn’t say a single word about Watergate!
[220] APPENDIX 3
Sport Banks on ODT Relief
End of War by Sept. 1 Would Boom Athletics
It may be that our good friend Lyman S. (Steve) Wood holds the secret of the immediate future of sports. He bet me the dinners for our families that the war with the Japs would be over by Sept. 1. It was my idea to fix the date Jan. 1, but tub-hearted Lyman tossed in four months just by way of exuding a little extra confidence. This is a fair wager for me, even if I lose.
Now that Mr. Wood has released the tension and suspense anent V-J Day, the sports writers can go ahead and break the news announcing the suspension of travel restrictions. They can now tell what will happen about the world’s series, how football teams will travel from 400 to 500 miles and shed some light on the new American League Basketball clubs and how they will be able to make the circuit. It’s as easy as that.
Steve may be right. Nobody can tell when the Japs will quit or how long it will take to make them give up. If Mr. Wood wins his wager, the business will have to be done within the next five weeks. Our friend Steve is an eternal optimist, and therefore maybe he didn’t stop to consider that Japan still holds a good part of China, all of Manchukuo, Singapore, a vast hunk of New Guinea and all of her home islands,–that is, what’s left of them after our recent bombing parties.
In the event that Forecaster Wood loses his wager, the world’s series will be in doubt except as a servicemen’s feature in Manila. The football teams will have to travel in day coaches, a turn that will be of no great help to visiting clubs that come from long distances. It will still be our main task to get vast quantities of materials and immense manpower over our western travelways, on the way to the Pacific. servicemen must have all the accommodations.
But all this confusion, jamming of the travel lines, battling to get places and riding the hard seats, is soon to be over with. Everything is going to be sweetness and light for traveling football, baseball and basketball teams.–shortly after Sept. 1.
Steve Wood says so!
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[221] APPENDIX 4
The The Deseret News, Monday, June 13, 1983
The Public Forum
Tribune Reader’ Opinions
Prophecy
Utah has seemingly been protected by being the only state that never had a national disaster. So far this year, Gov. Scott M. Matheson has declared 10 counties in Utah as disaster areas. These damages, totaling over $75 million, may yet go much higher.
But these calamities were foreseen and described by the controversial Bishop John H. Koyle of the famous “Dream Mine.” Thirty-four years after his death, Koyle’s prophecies are still being fulfilled.
The following statement was published in a book by the late Norman Pierce, called “The Dream Mine Story.”
“It looks like it won’t be long now before we’ll be having some of the big troubles we’ve been expecting. I saw in a dream the other night that muddy water would flow in the streets like rivers in almost every community from one end of the state to the other. When it comes, it’s going to cause a lot of trouble for a lot of people around here. It will be the beginning of really big troubles.”
Since these disastrous events have been a part of prophecy, it may be wise for everyone to consider the reasons why.
OGDEN KRAUT
[222] APPENDIX 5
During the summer of 1985, John Jordan published in pamphlet form an extensive list of 102 of Bishop Koyle’s prophecies, as he and others understood them to be. To save space here, some of these items have been slightly condensed, omitting Jordan’s personal interpretations and comments.
Bishop Koyle’s Prophecies
of the Last Days
As recalled by others and compiled by John Jordan
1.The overall purpose of the mine was too big for the people to understand. But, towards the end they would begin to understand.
2.The Church would have a garment mill.
3.Houses would be low and would look like chicken coops.
4.What looked like sheep camps would be at almost every home.
5.Trucks looking like boxcars would be running up and down the roads.
6.The Church would build a 34-story office building in the heart of New York City. The building would not have totally paid for itself before the troubles occur and the mine comes in.
7.The United States would commence selling wheat to its greatest enemy.
8.The Republican elephant would be in power. At an election, it would sink to its knees, never to rise again.
9.Weather pattern changes would be seen to the far south-west. Drought would proceed northward year by year increasing in intensity until reaching the valleys of Utah. At that time the troubles were to start in the valleys. The drought would then head east, increasing in intensity.
[223]
10.Gold would be legal in trade.
11.A mine takeover attempt would occur internal to the leadership.
12.Before the mine comes in, all books and records must be in order. The Bishop warned that no brothers or relatives should serve on the board at the same time.
13.On his deathbed, the Bishop called in John H. Koyle, III, and said, “I don’t know what they will have done with the money. I just don’t know what they have done with the money.”
14.Before the mine comes in, two board members (or leaders) will leave the work. And, the rest will not be of much use to it.
15.Towards the end a group will try to bring in the mine early, but will not succeed. It is best not to attempt to bring the mine in early because if it is done, the government will tax it away, or take it over for its important strategic values.
16.Great value would not come from Old Spanish workings. Those workings would be used as a flux.
17.A group trying to bring the mine in towards the end would not have the spirit of discernment to know what to do.
18.Utah Copper will close towards the end.
19.Towards the end, Satan will try to stir up trouble for the mine in the valleys, but will not succeed. Then, he will come up on the mountain and try to stir up trouble with the people there and those in the valleys.
20.Dark clouds will hang over the mine and the valleys. People will be distrustful and will not talk to one another. Finally, when the clouds part and the sun shines, everyone will be happy and will converse with each other.
21.There will be a sifting of those worthy of the work.
[224]
22.Just before the end time, the mine will experience a short shutdown.
23.A “Gravel Train” operation will come to a halt incidental to the short shutdown.
24.Something will cause the Church welfare program to be inadequate at the end.
25.Stock will sell for 10 cents per share.
26.At the end things will happen so fast that a person will not be able to tell what is to occur first.
27.Finally, what few old stockholders are left will have to ban together to reclaim the mine.
28.The financial condition of the mine will be so bad at the end that a white-haired man from the North will have to come to furnish the money needed to outfit the processing of black ore.
29.It will be possible after all stock is sold for a person contributing to the work of bringing the mine into eventually get 2,500 shares of stock apiece.
30.The mine will not come in until eleven families can live in perfect unity and harmony.
31.The mine will not come in until 30 people meet fasting and praying for deliverance at the green spot.
32.But, when at first the mine comes in, things will have been so difficult and desperate with so much trouble between people that stockholders will wonder if it was all worth it.
33.The U.S. Government will keep propping up the economy as if it were on stilts, until finally it would suddenly collapse overnight.
34.Taxes will become oppressive and almost impossible to pay.
35.The mining industry will attempt to again become operational. but, before they get going, and the mines can do any good for the economy, the crash will come.
[225]
36.There will be a setting in order: first the mine, then the Church, then the state, then the nation. They will be brought up short like a wild colt at the snubbing post.
37.The Church is to be set in order just after an April conference.
38.The United States will experience increasing interest rates which will finally reach 20% to 24% after a period of 10% to 14%.
39.Banks will commence taking over mortgage defaults until they own many properties, helping to add to depression. There will be plenty of money in the banks, but none to lend out.
40.There will be an overnight price crash. Wages and prices will be 20 cents on the dollar.
41.Depression will occur just before drought.
42.Depression will become so bad in the United States that service boys will be called home to keep money in the country.
43.Greenbacks will blow down the streets and will not be picked up because they will be worthless.
44.After the economic collapse, goods can be purchased for very little if a person has hard cash.
45.Gold will sell for over $100 per ounce.
46.The Church will renew persecution towards the mine. However, the mine will increase in strength and unity. Whereas, the unity and strength of the Church will decrease.
47.Troubles in the valleys for the Church will commence following the passing of the 12th president of the Church (Pres. Kimball).
48.Near the time of the end, many of the General Authorities will become quite old. Troubles will start when three leaders will die in close proximity to one another. The new replacements will not be able to hold the Church together.
[226]
49.In the end there will be a great apostasy in the Church. A rift in leadership will cause many members to leave. Something will happen to make members congregate in and around the churches, and at various other locations to discuss and ponder the great disturbing changes occurring. This will mark the commencement of the time of problems for the Church, as well as the time of apostasy.
50.The Bishop told of an interview with the Prophet Joseph in Salt Lake City. The two of them were seeking out the latter general authorities. The Bishop asked Joseph what he was going to do. Joseph’s answer was, “I’m going to release them, every last man-jack one of them.” (A man-jack is a mule that must be castrated or cut off to remove their unreconcilable stubbornness to Godly direction.) Joseph then stated, “They had their chance and failed!”
51.At the end the church will be happy to turn the welfare program operation over to the mine to stop recriminations against the leadership of the Church.
52.The Church will be in such a destitute financial condition that it will be happy to accept tithing from the stock-holders when the mine comes in.
53.If the stockholders do not pay tithing on their dividends, rains would come causing a landslide that would seal the mine from them.
54.The Provo steel plant will close at the time of trouble.
55.The railroad rails will be rusty when the mine comes in.
56.There will be little or no electricity. Lanterns will be back in use.
57.Streetcars and buses will no longer be running in Salt Lake City.
58.When the drought comes, one will notice dry, hot winds when the winter wheat is in the milk stage of kernel development. The first year of drought will reduce the winter wheat crop by 25%. The second year the wheat [227] crop will be reduced by 50%. The third year the wheat crop will be reduced by 75%, and will not be fit for anything but cattle feed. The mine must purchase its wheat from the second year’s crop, i.e., within the year following the second year harvest and before the third year harvest.
59.Mud will flow down the streets of Spanish Fork indicating the wickedness of the people. When groups of people start rifling the grocery stores of Spanish Fork, those stockholders living there should get out immediately and leave for the mine. Some were advised to come hiding from bush to bush along the canal bank; others elsewhere were to come the long way across the mountains to avoid pillage.
60.There should be enough unity and harmony to bring the mine in, in the second year of drought; if not, by the third year of drought. If there is not enough unity and harmony to bring it in by the third year of drought, the work will be taken away from the stockholders. Pray that the mine will come in in the second year. Otherwise, there will be extreme suffering that winter.
61.Stockholders will be tested on the low values first.
62.The rich will grow richer and the poor poorer, until many will be blue in the face with hunger when the mine comes in.
63.There will be very little gasoline. Stockholders were advised to keep their tanks filled.
64.Towards the end, stockholders will be questioned as to their part in the mine and as to what they heard was said and had seen concerning its coming in.
65.The mine will come in following an unusually hard winter. There will be heavy snows and a late wet spring. After two weeks of planting time, heavy rains will pelt the seed out of the ground. Then, hot dry winds will start to dry everything up, including the remaining plants.
[228]
66.At a stockholders’ meeting at the mine, two general authorities with the police will try to lay hands on the speaker as an impostor. The general authorities will be struck dead. Stockholders rushing to their aid will be told, “Halt! Let the dead take care of the dead!”
67.The first ore will be black and will come off the top beyond No. 1 and at a grass roots level. If it is winter, it will be brought down by bobsled.
68.The news of the first shipment of ore will go unnoticed since coincidental with it will be the death of the president in office.
69.The stockholders will know by looking that the mine is being brought in properly when they see the mill dump turning black.
70.Taxes will be impossibly oppressive. But the government will collapse following the mine coming in, but before the next tax collection time. Tax is not to be taken out of the Lord’s values.
71.The first dividends will be paid just before Christmas–just in time for stockholders to have a little something. It will be the fourth year of depression.
72.Foolish stockholders will buy recreational vehicles with dividend money. Wise stockholders will replace food storage before there is no more food to be had.
73.At the end the Church leaders will sit back and see what happens as the mine comes in and will not cause further trouble for stockholders. A large “snake” will come to the mine from the South.
74.Stockholders are not to hold grudges against those who have caused them trouble. Because, when the stock-holders see what happens to the persecutors, the stock-holders will pray day and night for their deliverance.
75.There will be a harsh winter at the end of which the maple or oak leaves will open like a mouse’s ear.
[229]
76.The harsh winter will be followed by a mild open winter.
77.A stone wall will be built along the mine side of the canal (during the mild winter).
78.The mine will become a city of refuge against roving bands.
79.Roving bands and marauders will not be a problem south of the Highline Canal.
80.The second shipment of ore, that from No. 4 finger, will be noticed when it gets into the news. People will come to the mine waving money, but there will be no stock to be sold. However, the mine will offer to feed the people.
81.Economic conditions will be so bad that people will say that the mine has come into production too late to do any good. However, that will not be the case since work will commence in numerous areas of the mine at the same time following the second batch of ore.
82.The mine will come in when the Federal Government is in disarray. Some say that the mine will come in in the late summer or fall.
83.When the mine comes in, there will be only three months to obtain needed goods from the East Coast and three more months to obtain goods from Denver (six months total). After that, trucks will not be running.
84.Foreign problems will commence.
85.The leaders of the nation will be blown out of office as if by a whirlwind. They will hide fearing for their lives.
86.When the mine comes in, mine personnel will be able to have most any Church position which they desire. Church authorities will seek after the companionship of mine people to attend conferences with them so that the authorities will be listened to and not rejected.
87.There will be great bitterness towards the general authorities. The leaders will have to take to the pulpits to keep people from leaving the Church.
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88.The Bishop’s grandson, Lynn, is to be president when the mine comes in.
89.When the mine comes in, the mountains will be covered with people looking for gold. You’ll hardly be able to see the mountain for the people covering it.
90.It will be almost too late to get the grain when it is obtained.
91.The mine will also support stocking grain in Idaho.
92.A stair-step concrete grainbin will be built on the terraces provided to store wheat. Hardly will one section be completed that it will be filled while the next section is being built.
93.The wheat to fill the bins will be bought by the mine at about 50 cents per bushel.
94.There will be a large influx of people. Tents will cover the valley. People will feel fortunate if they have a chicken coop to sleep in.
95.A white city will be built in the shape of a horseshoe around the depression.
96.Travel will be unsafe in the valley north of the mine.
97.An earthquake will open and drain the winze.
98.It will be important to purchase the coinage mint machinery being sold as surplus by the Denver mint at the end. The machinery must be brought to the mine within six months of the mine coming in. The machinery is to be set up at the mouth of Flat Canyon.
99.A clothing mill will also be established at the mouth of Flat Canyon at the end of the upper prune orchard road.
100.The mine will purchase and reopen the Provo steel plant.
101.The local militia will attempt to gain control of the mine and its people. Mine money must be used for the right purposes or it will be taken away.
102.Some crops will again be grown the sixth year of the seven-year drought.
[231] APPENDIX 6
Statements by Early Church Leaders
Orson Pratt:
Perhaps the Lord will open up mines containing gold and silver, or in some other way as seemeth to him best, wealth will be poured into the laps of the Latter-day Saints till they will scarcely know what to do with it. I will here again prophesy on the strength of former revelation that there are no people on the face of the whole globe, not even excepting London, Paris, New York, or any of the great mercantile cities of the globe–there are no people now upon the face of the earth, so rich as the Latter-day Saints will be in a few years to come. Having their millions; therefore they will purchase the land, build up cities, towns and villages, build a great capital city, at headquarters, in Jackson County, Missouri. (JD 21:136)
Wilford Woodruff:
No doubt there is plenty of gold hid up in the recesses of those grand old mountains that surround the Saints as a bulwark, but we hope it will remain sleeping in its quiet resting places, and never peep forth to gaze upon the face of day until the Saints have so developed themselves that its coming forth will be no bar to their progress, but that the gold of this world may be a servant unto them, and be used for those purposes for which the Lord designated it. When time comes that gold is necessary for the further extension of the kingdom, the Lord who has guided them hither-to, will show them when and how to obtain it. . . . The Saints of God will by and by possess all the gold that they can wisely use. It will give them much power among the wicked and great influence among nations, but they will not worship it, nor set their hearts upon it. Their public buildings will glitter with the [232] precious metal, it will ornament their mansions and shine upon their tables, but its crowning beauty will be seen in the great temple of our God, where, in rich abundance and excellent workmanship, it will be displayed to beautify this sanctuary, and make the place of His feet glorious. (Mill. Star 29:619)
Charles W. Penrose:
God expects us to be a different kind of people from those in the world. He does not expect us to be of the world, worldly. We have come here to be separate from the world, that we may purge ourselves from the spirit of Babylon. We must have different motives from the world; we must not have the same desires as the Gentiles, for their hearts are set upon the things of this life. They worship the wealth of the world. I hope to see the time when every Latter-day Saint will have plenty, and the time will come when God will give unto his people all the wealth they desire, but that will be when they know how to use it aright, and when their hearts are right and set upon the law of the Lord and upon the counsel of His will, and when they will be willing to use it for His glory and the blessing of their race. (JD 21:52)
Lorenzo Snow:
(quoted by Brigham Young) Brother Lorenzo Snow says that the Lord will bless my brethren and sisters. He says that all the mules in the territory cannot haul away the gold that is concealed in these mountains. (JD 10:34-35)
Brigham Young:
When it is necessary that we should possess gold in great abundance, the Lord will show it to us in vision, and we shall not have to prospect and dig to find it, as the wicked have to do. The liberty of the Saints is to possess power with God to open gold mines when we want gold (JD 10:288)
[233] 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. (JD 8:82)
Some of the brethren think the Saints ought not to be rich, and they have their various feelings. A great many brethren who have been in the States do not want to build fine houses or make many improvements here, for they are going back to their inheritances. You know there is a certain class who are fearful of getting the good things of this life, saying, “the Lord has chosen the poor in wealth and rich in faith,” etc. My feelings lead out to obtain every good thing we can obtain as a people–the gold, the silver, the flocks and herds, and to building beautiful cities; to having good gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and to making the earth like the garden of Eden. “To gather all we can, honestly or dishonestly?” “No, but through laboring faithfully and honestly, and treasuring up these things and thanking the Lord for them.” And if we have substance given us from the Lord, it should be devoted to building up His kingdom upon the earth. (JD 10:331-32)
[234] APPENDIX 7
Statements by Later Church Leaders
First Presidency (Joseph F. Smith, Anthon H. Lund, Charles W. Penrose)–1913
The following note accompanied the reproduction of the “Warning Voice” in the August 16, 1913, issue of The Deseret News. Seemingly from this editorial note the “Warning” was directed particularly at dream mines and their operators.
NOTE: Owing to the importance of the subject treated on in the letter of the First Presidency to the officers and members of the Church, which first appeared in The Deseret News of August 2, this year, it is reproduced today at the head of these columns. We trust the Saints generally will profit by the advice given. And in order to bring it to the attention of all Church members, it might be well to cause the letter to be read in ward meetings, or stake conferences or other similar gatherings of the people.
The First Presidency warn the Saints against investing in worthless mining schemes, or valueless stock, even if the promoters allege that they are guided by dreams and revelations. It is a timely warning. Almost everyone has heard stories of how Such-and-Such found a rich mine by following directions given in a dream, and many fondly hope for similar luck, but in most instances it will be found, on investigation, that such stories have little or no foundation in fact. They belong to the class of rumors which like the wind, “bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth.” No one should be guided by such rumors, but by reason enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
It is a safe rule not to accept the counsel of anyone who is in any way antagonistic to those who have been duly appointed to lead and guide Israel. And it will be found that the promoters of “dream mines” and “vision enterprises” generally are of that class. They find fault and pass [235] judgment, without justification. But by that very fact they warn the Saints to steer clear of them, just as the ringing, or whistling, buoys during foggy weather call the attention to mariners to the presence of danger, by the noise they make.
A Warning Voice
To the Officers and Members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
From the days of Hiram Page (Doc & Cov., Sec. 28), at different periods there have been manifestations from delusive spirits to members of the Church. Sometimes these have come to men and women who because of transgression became easy prey to the Arch-Deceiver. At other times people who pride themselves on their strict observance of the rules and ordinances and ceremonies of the Church are led astray by false spirits, who exercise an influence so imitative of that which proceeds from a Divine source that even these persons, who think they are “the very elect,” find it difficult to discern the essential difference. Satan himself has transformed himself to be apparently “an angel of light.”
When visions, dreams, tongues, prophecy, impressions or any extraordinary gift or inspiration conveys something out of harmony with the accepted revelations of the Church or contrary to the decisions of its constituted authorities, Latter-day Saints may know that it is not of God, no matter how plausible it may appear. Also they should understand that directions for the guidance of the Church will come, by revelation, through the head. All faithful members are entitled to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for themselves, their families, and for those over whom they are appointed and ordained to preside. But anything at discord with that which comes from God through the head of the Church is not to be received as authoritative or reliable. In secular as well as spiritual affairs, Saints may receive Divine guidance and [236] revelation affecting themselves, but this does not convey authority to direct others, and is not to be accepted when contrary to Church covenants, doctrine or discipline, or to known facts, demonstrated truths, or good common sense. No person has the right to induce his fellow members of the Church to engage in speculations or take stock in ventures of any kind on the specious claim of Divine revelation or vision or dream, especially when it is in opposition to the voice of recognized authority, local or general. The Lord’s Church “is a house of order.” It is not governed by individual gifts or manifestations, but by the order and power of the Holy Priesthood as sustained by the voice and vote of the Church in its appointed conferences.
The history of the Church records many pretended revelations claimed by impostors or zealots who believed in the manifestations they sought to lead other persons to accept, and in every instance, disappointment, sorrow and disaster have resulted therefrom. Financial loss and sometimes utter ruin have followed. We feel it our duty to warn the Latter-day Saints against fake mining schemes which have no warrant for success beyond the professed spiritual manifestations of their projectors and the influence gained over the excited minds of their victims. We caution the Saints against investing money or property in shares of stock which bring no profit to anyone but those who issue and trade in them. Fanciful schemes to make money for the alleged purpose of “redeeming Zion” or providing means for “the salvation of the dead” or other seemingly worthy objects, should not deceive anyone acquainted with the order of the Church, and will result only in waste of time and labor, which might be devoted now to doing something tangible and worthy and of record on earth and in heaven.
Be not led by any spirit or influence that discredits established authority, contradicts true scientific principles and discoveries, or leads away from the direct revelations of God [237] for the government of the Church. The Holy Ghost does not contradict its own revealings. Truth is always harmonious with itself. Piety is often the cloak of error. The counsels of the Lord through the channel he has appointed will be followed with safety. Therefore, O, ye Latter-day Saints, profit by these words of warning. (Des. News, Aug. 2, 1913; also Imp. Era 16:1148-1149, Sept. 1913)
James E. Talmage — 1928:
Several years ago, at the request of parties concerned, including some of the officials of the company operating the property, I made an examination of the ground and excavations, thereon, and reported to the effect that I found the so-called mine wholly barren of ore, and that the geological conditions were such as to offer no indication or promise of ore of a commercial nature being discovered on the property. I have held the same opinion since the time of my examination, and hold it today.
Furthermore, when I visited the property, I was told that the mining operations theretofore carried on and then in progress had been largely influenced and directed by alleged dreams and visions of supernatural character, received by certain of the company officials and other interested parties, by whom these statements were made known to me personally.
I am now informed that claims of supernatural direction in operating this mine are still current, and that I am understood as having endorsed them. I absolutely disclaim having given the least credence to any such alleged manifestations, whether dream, vision or otherwise.
To the contrary, immediately after making the examination and hearing the statements of persons claiming to have received supernatural aid in directing the work, and on many later occasions, I emphatically declared that I regarded the alleged manifestations as spurious and that the setting forth of such claims, allegations or intimations as inducements to [238] prospective purchasers of stock was wholly unjustifiable and fundamentally wrong. I reaffirm this now. (Des. News, May 14, 1928, p. 1 of Church News)
Deseret News, “Church Reaffirms Stand on Koyle `Dream Mine'” — 1932:
The attitude of Church officials concerning certain features in the mining operations of the Koyle Mining Company at the “Dream” or “Relief Mine,” east of Salem, remains the same today as it was expressed in a statement issued in 1913, it was declared Monday at the Church Offices.
The reaffirming of their position came in answer to persistent reports that have reached the General Authorities that stories are being circulated alleging that the church has changed its position in regard to the “Dream Mine.”
The erroneous reports are that Dr. James E. Talmage of the Council of the Twelve, is ready to apologize to the mine officials for his past statements concerning the mine and that he will tell the officials of the mine to “go ahead” and that the General Authorities are opposing Elder Talmage in his stand on the “Dream Mine,” that they have called him to account for his statements made in public, that his Church position is in jeopardy unless he apologizes to the mine officials and that the General Authorities are themselves ready to tell the mine officials to “go ahead.” (Des. News, Sept. 19, 1932, p. 1)
Editorial: Dream Mines — 1946:
Telephone inquiries are again coming in about the so-called Koyle Dream Mine, and reported sale of stock in that property. It is said that some persons of local prominence are again agitating the sale of stock in that mine and in some instances have claimed to have received “revelations” that certain of their neighbors should buy this stock. It is also claimed in some instances, as it has been claimed in the past, that the Church authorities are no longer opposed to the so-[239]called supernatural basis upon which the mine is being operated, and some go so far as to quote Dr. James E. Talmage as saying that he admitted being mistaken in his earlier studies of the mine.
Latter-day Saints should understand that at no time have Church officials changed their attitude regarding this mine and its supernatural claims. On Dec. 29, 1945, there was republished in the Church Section of The Deseret News a statement of the First Presidency of the Church warning members of the Church away from schemes based on supernatural claims by which persons hoped to get gain. Said the presidency:
We feel it our duty to warn the Latter-day Saints against mining schemes which have no warrant for success beyond the professed spiritual manifestations of their projectors and the influence gained over the excited minds of their victims. We caution the Saints against investing money or property in shares of stock which bring no profit to anyone but those who issue and trade in them. Financial schemes to make money for the alleged purpose of redeeming Zion or providing means for the salvation of the dead or other seemingly worthy objects should not deceive anyone acquainted with the order of the Church.” This statement was first prepared in the days of President Joseph F. Smith, and on Dec. 29, 1945, was reiterated by the present First Presidency who said on that date: “We commend the foregoing to the careful consideration of all members of the Church at this time, many of whom are the victims of alluring representations regarding mining and other investments.”
When salesmen for dream mine stock come and tell their neighbors they have been impressed by the Lord that the neighbors should buy some of this stock, let those neighbors beware, and go and discuss the matter with their bishops and stake presidents.
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When claims are made that Dr. Talmage changed his mind about this mine, let all remember that such claims were made in the lifetime of Dr. Talmage and in answer to them he published in The Deseret News on May 14, 1928, a statement including the following: “Several years ago, at the request of parties concerned, including some of the officials of the company operating this (Koyle) property, I made an examination of the ground and excavations thereon and reported to the effect that I found the so-called mine wholly barren of ore and that the geological condition was such as to offer no indications of the promise of ore discovery of commercial value on that property. I have held the same opinion since the time of my examination, and hold it today.”
In 1933, when the Koyle mine was facing difficulty with the State Securities Commission, Dr. Frederick J. Pack, another Utah geologist, was employed to make an examination of the mine and report to the Securities Commission, which at that time was testing charges of illegal sale of stock in the mine. Dr. Pack reported, as published Jan. 21, 1933, in Salt Lake City newspapers: “I desire to state that in my judgment the Koyle mining property offers no encouragement whatsoever for the future. The `ore’ bodies recently discovered are shown by assays to be worthless. This is also true of the ore in the mill bins awaiting treatment.” After giving a technical description of geological conditions at the mine site, Dr. Pack further stated in his report that he has seldom “if ever seen a mining prospect that exhibited such a complete absence of mineralization. Throughout the entire property I am unable to find evidence of vein filling.”
At various times backers of this mine have reported the discovery of both gold and platinum, but their tests have failed under assay. However, the thing against which the authorities of the Church warn the people is the claim of supernatural direction in this mine. All members of the Church are urged to follow the advice of the General Authorities of the Church in [241] this regard, and avoid the disappointment that has come to many who have preferred to believe in the so-called dreams and visions of men seeking by supernatural means to operate mines. (Des. News, Sept. 7, 1946)
Harold B. Lee — 1970:
In the Priesthood session of the 140th Annual Conference of the Church on April 4, 1970, President Harold B. Lee read the Church Statement of 1913 to reaffirm the official Church position.
[242] APPENDIX 8
DESERET NEWS, THE FAMILY NEWSPAPER
Salt Lake City, Utah, Friday Evening, April 16, 1948
Koyle Excommunicated
John H. Koyle, of Spanish Fork, Utah was excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last night on a charge of insubordination to the rules and authority of the Church.
Action was taken by the presidency and high council of the Palmyra Stake in a meeting held at the stake offices in Spanish Fork.
[243] APPENDIX 9
John H. Koyle Dies At Age 84, Funeral Held Today
John Hyrum Koyle, 84, native of Spanish Fork, died Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the Payson hospital of ailments due to advanced age. He was born in Spanish Fork August 14, 1864, a son of John H. and Adlinda Hillman Koyle, early pioneers. He was educated in the early day schools here, and followed the occupations of farming and mining.
He married Emily Holt, daughter of Payton and Sarah Naomi Carr Holt, Dec. 29, 1884, and to them were born 13 children. Nine grew to adulthood and seven are now surviving.
Mr. Koyle filled a mission for the LDS church in the Southern States, and had served as bishop of the Leland ward, and as a bishop’s counselor in Burley, Idaho. While chairman of war-teaching in Second ward, he made an enviable record which has been unequaled since. He was active in civic affairs.
He is survived by three sons and four daughters, LeRoy Koyle and Merrill Koyle, Spanish Fork, Ross Koyle, Mrs. Evelyn Stout, Mrs. Adlinda Duke, Mrs. Emma Wanward, Burley, Idaho, and Mrs. Lucille Weight, Pocatello, Idaho; two sisters, Mrs. Fidelia Davis and Mrs. Ellen Fillmore, Spanish Fork; 45 grandchildren and 57 great-grandchildren.
[244] APPENDIX 10
Section 111
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Salem, Massachusetts, August 6, 1836. HC 2:465-466.
1-5, The Lord looks to the temporal needs of his servants; 6-11, He will deal mercifully with Zion and arrange all things for the good of his servants.
1 I, the Lord your God, am not displeased with your coming this journey, notwithstanding your follies.
2 I have much treasure in this city for you, for the benefit of Zion, and many people in this city, whom I will gather out in due time for the benefit of Zion, through your instrumentality.
3 Therefore, it is expedient that you should form acquaintance with men in this city, as you shall be led, and as it shall be given you.
4 And it shall come to pass in due time that I will give this city into your hands, that you shall have power over it, insomuch that they shall not discover your secret parts; and its wealth pertaining to gold and silver shall be yours.
5 Concern not yourselves about your debts, for I will give you power to pay them.
6 Concern not yourselves about Zion, for I will deal mercifully with her.
7 Tarry in this place, and in the regions round about;
8 And the place where it is my will that you should tarry, for the main, shall be signalized unto you by the peace and power of my Spirit, that shall flow unto you.
9 This place you may obtain by hire. And inquire diligently concerning the more ancient inhabitants and founders of this city;
10 For there are more treasures than one for you in this city.
11 Therefore, be ye as wise as serpents and yet without sin; and I will order all things for your good, as fast as ye are able to receive them. Amen.
[245] APPENDIX 11
(Photographs)
Ore car at entrance to the Relief Mine
[246] Bishop John H. Koyle
[247] Bishop Koyle’s house at the mine