Anthony W Ivins - Cowboy Apostle: The Diaries of Anthony W. Ivins, 1875-1932

COWBOY

APOSTLE

The

DIARIES

of

ANTHONY W. IVINS

1875-1932

COWBOY

APOSTLE

The

DIARIES

of

ANTHONY W. IVINS

1875-1932

Edited by

Elizabeth Oberdick Anderson

Signature Books, Salt Lake City, 2013
in association w ith the S mith-Pettit Foundation

Frontispiece: Anthony W. Ivins, studio portrait ca. 1915, courtesy
Cathy Ivins Street.

Copyright 2013. The Smith-Pettit Foundation.

Published by arrangement with the copyright holder.

All rights reserved. Signature Books is a registered

trademark of Signature Books Publishing, LLC.

www.signaturebooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ivins, Anthony W., author.

Cowboy apostle : the diaries of Anthony W. Ivins, 1875-1932 / edited by

Elizabeth Oberdick Anderson.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-56085-226-1 (alk. paper)

1. Ivins, Anthony W.Diaries. 2. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day

SaintsHistorySources. 3. MormonsDiaries.

4. MormonsHistorySources. I. Anderson, Elizabeth Oberdick, 19 - editor.

II. Title.

BX8695.I85 2013

289.3092 dc23

[B]

2013038346

for my husband,

with love and gratitude

Contents

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

Introduction

On the afternoon of October 6, 1907, fifty-five-year old Anthony W. Ivins was taking notes at the semi-annual general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He recorded that Samuel O. Bennion and B. H. Roberts spoke, followed by a soloist and the presentation of the churchs leading authorities to the assembled membership. After dutifully noting the names of the First Presidency and president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, his entry abruptly ceased. Ivins subsequently explained:

As I noted the exercises of the conference yesterday I wrote the names of the Presidency as they were presented by Prest. [Joseph F.] Smith. He then presented the name of F[rancis] M. Lyman as prest. of the quorum of apostles & then to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Geo[rge] Teasdale presented my name. I was so overcome that I ceased to write. Immediately after conference adjourned I walked with the Presidency and quorum of Apostles to the Presidents Office and after instructing me in regard to my duties as a member of the quorum[,] the Twelve and Presidency and Twelve laid their hands on me and Prest. Smith ordained me a member of the quorum.

That this came as a surprise to the recipient of the honor[,] as well as to the general public, was apparent, the church-owned Deseret News reported, but that the selection was approved without a dissenting vote shows that the people regard the choice as the best that could have been made. The article stated that Elder Ivins is known from one end of the country to the other as a broad, brainy man of affairs, strong, capable, a leader of acknowledged ability, yet withal faithful and full of humility before God.

At the time of his calling, Ivins was serving as president of the Jurez Stake in Chihuahua, Mexico, a position held since the creation of the stake on December 9, 1895. Well-liked in his position, both by LDS colonists and native settlers, Ivins even claimed the respect of President Porfirio Daz (1830-1915), according to recollections by family members. Daz, who ruled the country for some thirty years,

Ivins the Man

Born in Toms River, New Jersey, His parents took him west when he was only one year old, where they settled in the Salt Lake Valley, remaining there for eight years before Brigham Young sent them south to Utahs Dixie to help colonize St. George.

It was in St. George that the seeds of the cowboy apostle were sown, as young Ivins learned to ride horses, rope steer, hunt, and fish. His diaries detail expeditions into the mountains that include tallies of the number of deer killed and fish caught. He became a skilled horseman and expressed concern for the animals when they were ill, referring to them by name. After arriving home from his second mission to Mexico, he invested in livestock and eventually owned two herds, organized into the Mohave Land and Cattle Company and Kaibab Cattle Company. His accomplishments as a rancher eventually earned him the Great Westerner Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. He was posthumously elected to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. The January 5, 1958, press release from the hall of fame explained that he

got well acquainted with Indians of Southern Utah and northern Arizona in his youth, learning use of the bow and arrow from them, use of the rifle from his father. He worked with cattle and horses with great interest and became a rancher who tried always to upgrade his stock. He did his church missionary work in Mexico, in Chihuahua, where after several short trips he lived 12 years.

He held civic offices from peace officer to mayor, was fearless in his duties and a staunch advocate of legal order. He developed a keen insight into men and his fairness was noted by everyone who knew him.

In 1908 [1907] he became a member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the church and was a member of the First Presidency of the church. He was a bank director, a director of insurance firms, of the Utah Power and Light Company, was chairman of the board of trustees of the state agricultural collegealthough he had almost no formal education himself. He was extremely interested in youth work of all types. His work with the Indians gave him real pleasure.

Ivins was, in fact, sincerely concerned about Native Americans and was appointed to be a Special Indian Agent in 1891. In that capacity he obtained appropriations to aid the Shivwits tribe and overcame resistance to locating the tribe in more arable land along the Santa Clara River. He appreciated hearing native people say Tony Ivins he no cheat, as it became a common expression among the Indian population of southern Utah. When he died, a tribal memorial service was held, at which his Indian friends eulogized him by saying, Tony good Indian friend, Tony know Indian heart all the same as Indian.

One of the challenges of reading Ivinss diaries is trying to discover the inner man. He was a stalwart church member and champion of Mormonism, yet today few church members know much about him. He was admired by his colleagues in the hierarchy and those who served with him in the Mexican colonies. He was said to exhibit wisdom in business and government, yet he remains an enigma in his own recorded entries. His son Stanley Snow Ivins (1891-1967) stated that his father wanted to write his own history but never got around to it. Absent that, I will offer a few glimpses into his character, even if his inner thoughts remain a sealed book.

Ivins rarely mentions his family in his diaries. This strikes me as a wish for privacy, not a lack of familial love. His diary was a vehicle to record details of his life rather than emotions, according to his approach. It is in his letters that he is more fully revealed. He writes more intimately to his wife, Elizabeth (Libbie) Ashby Snow (1854-1936), whom he married in St. George on November 9, 1878, when the two were in their mid-twenties. His letters to her reveal his homesickness, a longing to be back with her and the children, but an acknowledgement of his sense of duty to his Mexican mission assignments. He signed his letters lovingly, Tone.