Description

I Am Satisfied: Thomas L. Kane

July 14, 1846, near Council Bluffs, Iowa. Two men, recently acquainted, were taking a walk through the river bottoms nigh to the Missouri River. They happened to come upon a man kneeling in secret prayer near the edge of the woods. Henry Green Boyle, one of those men, described what happened. 

“It seemed to affect [Kane] deeply, and as we walked away, he observed that our people were a praying people, and that was evidence enough to him that we were sincere and honest in our faith.”

The two men walked on a short distance and came upon another man, similarly, praying aloud in the wilderness. Again, Henry’s description:

“We had involuntarily taken off our hats as though we were in a sacred presence.  I never can forget my feelings on that occasion.  Neither can I describe them, and yet the Colonel was more deeply affected than I was.  As he stood there, I could see the tears falling fast from his face, while his bosom swelled with the fullness of his emotions.  And for some time after the man had arisen from his knees and walked away towards his encampment, the Colonel sobbed like a child and could not trust himself to utter a word.”

The Colonel was Colonel Thomas L. Kane, born and reared in an affluent, semi-aristocratic family in the East. Not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Kane had journeyed to meet the Mormons for himself. This experience and others like it convinced Colonel Kane that they were not the villains as they had been portrayed in the media of the day. 

Kane became the most powerful and influential friend of the Latter-day Saints in the 19th century. From outside the Church, but inside the halls of power, Kane lobbied on behalf of the Saints. He raised funds for their support, shaped public opinion and helped secure and recruit the Mormon Battalion. He helped negotiate the location of Winter Quarters on Native American lands in 1846, and later was hugely influential in negotiating a peaceful settlement to the Utah War of 1857. 

For almost 40 years, Thomas L. Kane and Brigham Young were trusted and beloved friends, each offering and receiving valued counsel from the other. Colonel Thomas L. Kane did much good for the Kingdom of God on the earth—and to think, it started with overhearing the Saints pray. 

Source:

http://www.crockettclan.org/pioneers/071846.html 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_L._Kane

Scholarly script, History of the Saints television series, Thomas L. Kane: Friend of the Mormons, Part 1 Season 1 Episode 13