Brigham Young's Protection of the Malt Whisky Kegs
Published October 5, 2026 at 1:33 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While the Saints were crossing the Missouri River on a ferry, a government officer attempted to destroy four kegs of malt whisky that the Saints had brought to correct bitter water. Brigham Young, fearing for the people's health if they were left without this resource, leveled a pistol at the officer and forced him to stop.
In Their Own Words
“Four kegs only had been saved: saved by Brigham Young himself. An Elder, who was present in the boat, and who told me the anecdote, says it is the only time he ever remembers to have seen the Prophet in a rage. Four kegs were on board the ferry, when the officer seized them and began to knock in the staves; in that spirit lay the lives of the people; and when Brigham saw the man raise his mall he drew his pistol, levelled it at his head, and cried, ‘Stay your hand! If you touch that keg, you die by the living God!’ The man jumped off the ferry and troubled them no more. — Millennial Star 29:7”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 16 February 1867 (Vol. 29, No. 7). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1867-02-16_29_7 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high)
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