Description
Willard Gilbert Smith
In the scriptures, the Lord often commands be not afraid. “Fear not little children,” He said, “for ye are mine and I have overcome the world.” Please note that fear is to be overcome by faith in the knowledge that he is with us. May I share a story of remarkable courage?
The mob rode into the settlement howling like demons and shooting at everything that moved. The call for quarter was answered with more bullets. Women and children screamed and ran for the woods while most of the men and boys ran into the blacksmith shop for defense.
Willard Smith ran with his father and brothers, but when he tried to enter the shop, his arms inexplicably flew up and prevented him—three times! He buried himself in a nearby woodpile, but the mob shot into the wood splintering it all around him. Willard ran for a nearby cabin. There he found old Father McBride terribly wounded. The old man asked for a drink of water. Willard ran to the millpond and, notwithstanding bullets like hail around him, he returned to the old man with the water.
He ran on to another cabin nearby. As he entered, bullets smashed into the wood behind him. He heard whimpering and soft voices. Lifting the valance on the bed, he discovered six little girls beneath huddled in fear. Willard knew the mob would be there in moments.
“Come,” he cried. “We must get out of here or we will all be killed.”
Willard led the girls from the cabin and across the mill pond, bullets striking all around them. From there, the girls vanished into the woods and safety.
When the mob had finished their murder and looting they rode off howling. Willard was the first to come out of hiding and survey the holocaust—the first to enter the blacksmith shop and discover his father and younger brother dead. He pulled Alma, his other brother, grievously wounded, out of the pile of bodies and carried him out to his mother.
As darkness fell, cattle bellowed, dogs howled, and terror gripped the survivors. Willard spoke of his personal terror as his mother sent him in search of roots to minister to his wounded brother.
“It required all the courage I could summon,” He said, “to take the shovel, and with the aid of a dim torch, follow the stream and secure the roots from which Mother made a soothing poultice.”
The next day, Willard would face a task that even the strongest men in the camp could not bear. With his Mother, he dropped the body of his slain brother into a dry well to keep him from the depredations of the mob.
Willard would ever after speak admiringly of his mother, Amanda Barnes Smith. Her faith and example inspired courage in him. Five weeks after that attack Willard would go with his mother to face the mob and retrieve their stolen horse.
…and all of this remarkable courage from a boy only 11 years-old!
Willard Smith would go on to be a temple-builder, a member of the Mormon Battalion, a missionary, husband, father, bishop, and stake president. He is buried in Morgan, Utah.
Copyright Glenn Rawson 2022
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