Jacob Hamblin Stopping war

The life of Jacob Hamblin was full of adventure, struggle and even near death experiences. He was the man called on, when conflict arose among the Native American Tribes and the Pioneer settlers. Jacob Hamblin was sought to calm the tensions between the two groups, sometimes in the most trying circumstances. He worked tirelessly to bring peace between the people. With the help of God, he was able to stay calm in tense situations, and find peace between the two groups.

Often times, Jacob was working with Natives that did not speak English. The different tribes spoke different languages, and to foster peace Jacob worked to learn the different languages. Even though he was able to speak some of the Native American languages, but he was often relying on the Spirit to communicate, with the help of Native translators. Jacob was working with many different Native Americans tribes, and became friends with many. Jacob had to rely heavily on his Father in Heaven, trusting he would be protected and guided to help the groups to live in peace.

In Jacob Hamblins autobiography he tells the story of an imminent war between the Native Americans and the settlers when three Navajo's boys were murdered in the Grass Valley. These Navajo boys were killed by white men, but the men who killed the boys were not Latter-day Saints. Even though the men were not Latter-day Saints, the killings of these boys stirred the anger of the Natives and lack of trust between the two groups. It was already a very tense situation, and the killing of these boys made the situation a lot worse. Jacob Hamblin was called in to stop the threat of war.

When Jacob heard of the deaths of these Navajo boys, he knew it would be a very delicate and volatile situation. He hurried and traveled to a place called Moancoppy where he hoped to find some Navajo people, who were his friends. He hoped they would help him discover the temperament of the Navajo people. He worried that war would start at any moment and he needed to be prepared. When Jacob arrived at the area nobody was there to meet him, there was only a Piute family and a Oriba woman. Worried the problems were already escalating Jacob hurried to find the group of Navajo.

While journeying to the Navajo people, Jacob received information that the families of Navajo boys killed were exasperated and ready to fight. They did not want to discuss the situation, but wanted to take revenge on the men who had killed the boys. The older Navajo men desired, first to speak to Jacob Hamblin, before any more were hurt.

When Jacob arrived to the Navajo camp, he was not greeted with the same warm greetings he was use to from this group. It was unsettling for Jacob, knowing they were close to war. His words and actions could start a great war between the two groups or with the help of his Father in Heaven, he could calm the tensions and help find peace.

Jacob recorded:

"Two or three gray-headed men came out to meet us good naturedly, but did not appear as friendly as they had formerly. I told them of my business. Soon afterwards some young men put in an appearance, whose looks bespoke no good."

Jacob was told the group was not ready to talk, they were waiting for the family of the boys that were killed, and would not begin until the relatives arrived.

Jacob said his spirit was "weighed down with gloomy forebodings and would have left the place could I have justified in doing so. Unless the Lord was with us, what were we to do with all these against us?"

At noon the next day the Navajo said they were ready to talk. All the people involved gathered in a log cabin with only one entrance, Jacob noticed there was no way of escape, if it became necessary. There were twenty-four Navajo gathered in the cabin, four of the men were councilors of the nation.

When the talks began, a relative to the young men who died, was upset saying that the Navajo were lied to by Jacob Hamblin. The family said that because these boys went to trade with the "white people" they boys were killed. One injured with a bullet hole through him.

The angry Navajo relative went on to say, that Jacob would not be able to go home, but would be killed as payment for the deaths of the boys. The Navajo man then turned to the men who had accompanied Jacob and told them they could leave with their lives if they left right away. If they were to stay, they would have the same fate as Jacob.

Although, extremely afraid for their lives, the men chose to stay with Jacob and support him in negotiations.

Tension were very high but Jacob stayed calm through the negotiations reminding the Navajo of his efforts for peace and understanding of each other. Jacob told them that he hoped they would not kill him for a wrong he, nor his people committed. The gray-headed men of the group sided with Jacob, but the younger men were worried they could not have revenge.

The Navajo brought in the young men who survived with bullet holes and showed his wounds to the group. This stirred up the people, again, to great anger against Jacob. They were upset and ready for revenge.

Through the chaos Jacob said the spirit whispered to him of an assurance that all would be okay.

Through the hours of negotiations the desire for blood revenge diminished. The Navajo changed the desire to kill Jacob to then wanting extreme amounts of payment for the lives of the boys. The Navajo asked to be paid 100 head of cattle for each of the three Navajo killed and fifty for the wounded one. This was more than Jacob would earn the rest of his life, is was a huge amount to pay. Jacob thought of agreeing to the terms and running, and simply worry about fulfilling the terms another day. He knew agreeing to the terms and not paying would never work, but he really wanted to be out of the life threatening situation.

Ultimately, Jacob chose to continue to work on an agreement and told the men he would not sign the agreement that was unreachable. Jacob said that he had never lied to them and he would not pay for the wrong that other people had done.

The group sat in negotiations for 12 hours before it was over. Jacob reiterated that it was not his men who had killed those boys and the Navajo are still free to trade without fear from his people. Simply trying to defuse the strong feelings of the night.

After many hours of intense negotiations the Natives finally agreed to let Jacob leave with his life! They also agreed to start no war over the deaths of these boys.

Jacob and his companions were relieved beyond words.

The tense negotiations had paid off, and they would be able to leave with their lives, and with the promise of no war. Jacob would voluntarily put himself in the dangerous and tense situations for the greater good. He believed that God would help him, and that the Native Americans were his brothers and sisters. He knew that God cared about their lives and the lives of the pioneers, and he worked to help all work together.

Years before this incident, Jacob had been given a promise blessing saying "if I would not thirst for the blood of the Lamanites, I should never die by their hands." Through hard negotiations, Jacob would remember this blessing and would stay calm in hard situations, knowing God was with him.

Jacob Hamblin's life was protected, once again, by the grace of God. The negotiation that night was one of the most intense and terrifying experiences of the life of Jacob Hamblin. Multiple times through negotiations the Natives wished to kill Jacob and have it be over. The Spirit of God helped calm the heightened emotions of the Navajo, who desired revenge for the loss of the boys who had been killed. Jacob calmly reminded the Navajo people of their desires to work together and be able to live amongst each other. Jacob had worked with the Native people for years, and was very close friends with many of them. Jacob was able to stand straight and tall, knowing he had the protection of God. He was able to be a peace maker between the two groups, protected and helped by God.

Boyd K. Packer said:

“The gift of the Holy Ghost, if you consent, will guide and protect you and even correct your actions. It is a spiritual voice that comes into the mind as a thought or a feeling put into your heart….It is not expected that you go through life without making mistakes, but you will not make a major mistake without first being warned by the promptings of the Spirit. This promise applies to all members of the Church.” 

References:

Jacob Hamblin: A Narrative of His Personal Experience as a Frontiersman, Missionary to the Indians and Explorer : Disclosing Interpositions of ... Perilous Situations and Remarkable Escapes p 114-125

 (President Boyd K. Packer,  Counsel to Youth, General Conference, October 2011)