Torbuka the Goshite chief's visions of the Gospel and future deliverance
Published October 5, 2026 at 2:48 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
Torbuka, a Goshite chief, had a series of divine manifestations. In the spring of 1874, he dreamed he saw a beautiful meadow with clear water where he and his people were commanded to wash. Later, in his tent, he was visited by a man with a grey beard and handsome countenance who told him the Mormons were their friends, that the time for Indian baptism had come, and that the time was near when those who had wronged the Indians would be consumed like dry wood. Torbuka was visited twice more by two personages, one taller than the other, who repeated the message word for word. These events led Torbuka and his band to gather at Deep Creek for baptism.
Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 37, No. 7, 16 February 1875, p. 107):
Torbuka, a Goshute chief, had a series of divine manifestations. In the spring of 1874, he dreamed he saw a beautiful meadow with clear water where he and his people were commanded to wash. Later, in his tent, he was visited by a man with a grey beard and handsome countenance who told him the Mormons were their friends, that the time for Indian baptism had come, and that the time was near when those who had wronged the Indians would be consumed like dry wood. Torbuka was visited twice more by two personages, one taller than the other, who repeated the message word for word. These events led Torbuka and his band to gather at Deep Creek for baptism.
In Their Own Words
“It appears that some time last spring Torbuka and the greater portion of his band were encamped some distance west of Deep Creek, and that one night he had a singular and very strange dream, in which he thought he saw a beautiful meadow, through which flowed a fine stream of clear water. He thought he saw Elder Lee, who told him that himself and people must wash in that stream. ... Subsequently Torbuka was sitting alone in his tent, when a man entered, described as having a grey beard, and a handsome countenance. ... The stranger then left ... After this two personages together visited Torbuka in the same manner ... Subsequently one of the personages appeared again to Torbuka, making the third visitation, and the things that had been uttered at the two previous visits were exactly repeated. — Millennial Star 37:7”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 16 February 1875 (Vol. 37, No. 7). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1875-02-16_37_7 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Complete account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 37, No. 7, 16 February 1875, p. 107 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1875-02-16_37_7
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