George A. Smith's party's miraculous escape from Navajo warriors
Published October 4, 2026 at 8:46 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While exploring in the northern part of New Mexico, George A. Smith's party of nine was confronted by 300 Navajo warriors. The party was saved from a planned battle when they dropped a pack from a saddle and scattered cooking utensils and other items. The Indians halted to fight over the items, allowing the party to escape.
In Their Own Words
“The party suffered greatly from a scarcity of water. They were unable to get their boat to the river, and had to go by the old Utah trail. They were saved from a battle with the Indians by the falling of a pack from the saddle and the scattering of some cooking utensils and other things. The Indians halted, and began fighting who should have them. The party of nine reached the settlement in safety about the 20th November. — Millennial Star 23:4”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 26 January 1861 (Vol. 23, No. 4). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1861-01-26_23_4 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high)
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