Brigham Young — The Cattle Multiply While Paying Off a $12,000 Debt (Salt Lake City, 1857)
Published September 28, 2026 at 8:17 AM
Facing a $12,000 debt to a local merchant and with no cash resources left, Brigham Young and Church leaders determined in 1857 to pay the debt with cattle. They initially estimated they had only a few scattered animals and feared they would have to stop the public works to give up their working teams. They stepped forward in faith anyway, committing all their stock. The brethren began bringing in cattle from every quarter — including about 170 head gathered from a herd ground where they had been told none remained. The debt was paid in full, and remarkably, when the process concluded the community found itself with nearly 200 head of cattle MORE than when it had commenced — better supplied with teams, beef, and milk cows than before — without having touched a single animal needed for the public works.
In Their Own Words
“I will tell you how we paid that debt. We owed a debt of twelve thousand dollars, and we had not the money to pay it. We had a few cattle, and we concluded to turn them out to pay the debt. We went to the herd ground, where brother Stringham had said there were none, and we got about one hundred and seventy head there. And the brethren began to bring in and bring in, and the cattle that we had drawn stone with are all still in the good feed, and the debt is paid, and we have now almost two hundred head of cattle on hand more than we had when we commenced. We are now better supplied with cattle for teams and beef, and with milk cows, and everything of the kind, than when we commenced; and we have not touched one of those animals that we needed to work on the Public Works. This is the way the Lord blesses us when we try to do His will.”
— Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 4:357
Sources & References
Journal of Discourses, Volume 4 (pages 354-360), discourse 66. https://journalofdiscourses.com/4/66 (extracted verbatim from source text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: Journal of Discourses, Volume 4, page 357 https://journalofdiscourses.com/4/66
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