A Mormon Bishop Surrounded by 300 Native Americans in Utah
In 1867, tensions between Mormon settlers and the Timpanogos tribe in Utah’s Heber Valley had reached a dangerous point.
300 angry Tempenogous warriors surrounded a handful of Mormon settlers, and one woman shouted, "I will eat the heart of the Mormon while it is still warm." In 1843, Hyram Smith placed his hands on Joseph Stacy Murdoch's head and gave him a remarkable patriarchal blessing. He promised Joseph that one day he would help bring peace between the Saints and the Native Americans. He served as one of Joseph Smith's bodyguards.
After the Saints came to Utah, he settled in Hebrew Valley and became the bishop of Heber City. Following Brigham Y Young's council that it was better to feed the Native Americans than fight them, Joseph built friendships with the Tempenogus people, the local band of the Ute Nation led by Chief Tabby. He traded honestly with them, welcomed them into this very home, and treated them with kindness and respect.
Over the years, he earned their trust. Then in 1866 during Utah's Blackhawk War, Brigham Young asked Joseph Murdoch to take cattle as a peace offering to Chief Tabby's camp. Joseph obeyed. Instead of a welcome, nearly 300 warriors surrounded them. The younger warriors shouted, "We want Mormon scalps, not beef." Joseph and the other men quietly stood back to back, believing they might never return home.
Then the elderly head chief Soiet stepped forward. Pointing toward Joseph Murdoch, he declared, "This is a brave man. He has come here to help us. He is our friend. He wants peace." The camp fell silent. Then Chief Tabby turned and walked away. One by one, every warrior followed him. The following year, Joseph released a captured Tempenogus man with an invitation for Chief Tabby to come to Heber and make peace.
Several hundred members of Chief Tabby's band came into Heber and camped in Joseph's own yard. The settlers prepared a great feast. Then inside Joseph's sandstone home, Joseph Stacy Murdoch and Chief Tabby smoked a peace pipe and signed a treaty of friendship that ended the fighting in Hebrew Valley. They honored that covenant and remained friends for the rest of their lives. Today, a monument stands just steps from Joseph Stacy Murdoch's historic home in Hebrew City, commemorating the peace treaty signed there on August 20th, 1867, a reminder that lasting peace is often built through faith, kindness, and courage.
Years later, Joseph Murdoch also wrote the beloved hymn, Come Listen to a Prophet's voice. Joseph listened to the prophet. He trusted the Lord. And through years of faithful obedience, God prepared him to fulfill a promise he never could have imagined.
