Description
You Will All Go To Hell
James Holt crossed the plains in 1852, and then in 1853 was ordained a high priest and called to serve in a bishopric. By 1867 James had settled an area near Enterprise, Utah that would be called Holt Canyon. Family records give the following description.
In 1867 James Holt…came to visit relatives in the little town of Hamblin located at the northeast part of the Mountain Meadows on the Old Spanish Trail. One morning he walked out north down the canyon. There he discovered a beautiful stream of water. He moved his family from Washington, Washington County, Utah to a spot he had chosen near the mouth of the canyon where he built a home and began cultivating the ground.
Somewhere around 1879, James and his boys were up in the canyon cutting out their winter supply of wood when they discovered gold. They quickly collected some samples and sent it to Salt Lake to be assayed. The report came back that the rock was rich in gold and silver. James went back and filled sacks with the ore. As you can imagine hopes and dreams of wealth ran high.
Then one night, just at supper time, Sister Holt, Parthenia, went out to call the family in. In the distance she saw a man riding on a donkey and approaching the house. When he stopped and asked for a drink, Parthenia invited him to stay for supper. They described him as “an elderly man with a long beard, educated and soft-spoken.” He joined in the family’s conversation and James began to tell him of the gold mine, even showing him samples of the ore.
The stranger listened to the stories and dreams. Finally, he spoke,
“Brother Holt, I promise you if you go on with this mine, you and your sons will all go to hell. This mine is not for you. But if you forget it and go on with your work here on the ranch, honor your Lord and your family, you will save yourself, and your sons will become honorable men.”
James looked at the stranger in astonishment. Why was he saying these words? They were uttered with certainty, but what right had he to make such a harsh pronouncement at the table where he was a guest? James held his ground and continued eating, but the delay and spontaneous conversation was gone, and the meal soon concluded. Courteously, James asked the stranger to stay the night, but the old man declined, saying he had to be getting on. Leaving the room with a heavy heart, James went out into the twilight to make his nightly rounds, followed by the old man who unhitched his donkey and mounted. As the stranger headed toward the canyon, James walked to the end of the yard with him, sending him on his way with a wish of Godspeed. Pondering upon the words the man had spoken, he stood in the fading light of what had begun a good day, his head lowered. Parthenia joined him. As they stood, softly conversing about the pronouncement of their recently parted guest, the hoof beats of the donkey faded. Looking up shortly thereafter, James and Parthenia noted that the old man and his mule had disappeared from sight. He was never to be seen again. But the conversation with the old man weighed heavily upon Holt’s mind. A few days later he decided to ride to the mine. To his surprise, as he approached the place where he had marked off his claim, everything was changed. The terrain was different. James found he could not identify one familiar landmark. For a man who knew the hills and valleys around his ranch very well, he could not understand what had happened. He felt lost and disoriented as he tried again and again to locate the mine. He went back often, but the mine had vanished.
Incidentally, that promise made by the old man, that all of James Holt’s sons would be honorable men–It was fulfilled!
Sources:
Ibid. other accounts of the promise were that the stranger promised that all his sons would serve as bishops, and they all did!
Copyright Glenn Rawson 2023
