Daniel Webster Jones (Mormon)
|Daniel Webster Jones|
August 26, 1830|
Howard County, Missouri
|Died||April 20, 1915
|Cause of death||Gangrene|
|Resting place||City of Mesa Cemetery
|Notable works||Forty Years Among the Indians (autobiography)|
|Spouse(s)||Harriet Emily Colton|
Margaret C. Jones
|Relatives||Fay Wray (grand-daughter)
Jeffrey M. Jones
Daniel Webster Jones (August 26, 1830 – April 20, 1915) was an American and Mormon pioneer. He was the leader of the group that colonized what eventually became Mesa, Arizona, made the first translation of selections of The Book of Mormon into Spanish, led the first Mormon missionary expedition into Mexico, dealt frequently with the American Indians, and was the leader of the group that heroically wintered at Devil's Gate during the rescue of the stranded handcart companies in 1856.
Jones was born 26 August 1830 in Booneslick, Howard County, Missouri. Orphaned at the age of 12, he joined a group of volunteers to fight in the Mexican-American War in 1847. Following the war, he remained in Mexico for a number of years, learning Spanish, and while taking "part in many ways in the wild, reckless life that was common in that land," still he longed for something. When a sheepherding expedition bound for California departed in 1850, he left with them.
Latter-day Saint Movement
While camped along the Green River in 1850, his pistol went off in his holster, piercing through fourteen inches of his groin and thigh. His companions left him, lame, but alive, with a Mormon settlement in Provo. There, he studied Mormon doctrine and was baptized by Isaac Morley on January 27, 1851. The next year, he married Harriet Emily Colton, daughter of Philander and Polly Colton.
In the October 1856 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church President Brigham Young informed those gathered that a group of Latter-day Saint immigrants were then stranded on the plains of Wyoming. These were the Martin and Willie handcart companies, as well as the Hunt and Hodgett wagon companies. The next day, about 25 men departed from the Salt Lake Valley to find the immigrants.
The company found the Willie Handcart Company near South Pass. After reaching Devil's Gate, they still hadn't found the other groups, and Jones, Joseph A. Young, and Abe Garr were sent ahead to find the missing parties and help them in to the Devil's Gate area. After assisting them to a spot now known as Martin's Cove, it was determined that Jones, Thomas Alexander, and Ben Hampton would remain behind with the goods cached at Fort Seminoe, together with 17 teamsters detailed from the Hunt and Hodgett wagon companies. During that winter, they endured terrific privations which Jones later detailed in his autobiography.
In 1874, Jones was commissioned by Brigham Young to translate selections from The Book of Mormon into Spanish, in preparation for a missionary expedition into Mexico. This he did, with the assistance of Henry Brizzee and Mileton Trejo, a recent Spanish convert from the Philippines. Following the translation, the company, including James Z. Stewart, Helaman Pratt (son of Parley P. Pratt and father of Rey L. Pratt), Wiley C. Jones (Jones's son), R. H. Smith, Ammon M. Tenney and Anthony W. Ivins (who would later become an Apostle and First Counselor in the First Presidency, departed for Mexico. The mission lasted from 1875 to 1876.
Upon returning, he was commissioned by Brigham Young to start a settlement in the Salt River Valley of Arizona. Originally called Jonesville, the settlement was later renamed Lehi, and was eventually incorporated into Mesa, Arizona.
|Author||Daniel W. Jones|
|Media type||Print (Hardcover)|
After some conflict with the other settlers, Jones moved to the Tonto Basin area, where his wife and 14th and youngest child were killed when a shed fell on them during a storm in 1882. In 1890, he published his autobiography, Forty Years Among the Indians. His autobiography was published by the Juvenile Instructor Press in 1890. It is described on its Title Page as "A True yet Thrilling Narrative of the Author's Experiences among the Natives." In it, Jones writes his autobiography, detailing his conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his experiences during the rescue of the handcart companies during the winter of 1856, his work with the Native Americans and Mexican people, and the early settlement of what became Mesa, Arizona. It is a valuable resource for historians and storytellers in describing events and conditions in Western and Mormon American history.
|This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2011)|
- Forty Years Among the Indians, Daniel W. Jones, 1890
- Walsh, Jim (5 October 2010). "Mesa Cemetery preserves history one plot at a time". Arizona Republic.
- Forty Years Among the Indians, Jones' autobiography, available online from Archive.org
- Entire scan of book available through Google Book Search
- Daniel Webster Jones at Find a Grave