Brigham Young Throws A Tantrum Over His Favorite Saddle Being Scratched

[Everybody Wang Chung]

Over at SeN, the proprietor recounts a truly faith promoting story about Brigham Young flying into a rage at his saddle being scratched. SeN recounts two different versions of the story. In the first, Brigham blames his manservant. In the second, Brigham rages at his children.

In the first story:

His prize saddle was misplaced or did not hang properly, and the horse trampled it into shreds. He sharply rebuked the neglectful man and then made a beeline for the bedroom where he said (someone overheard him), “Down Brigham.” Then he knelt and prayed, ‘Lord, I’m sorry. I was angry. Take my anger away and help me to do better next time.’

In the second story:

Brother Brigham had a prize leather saddle that he really liked. He told his children that they could use any of the other saddles in the barn, but not that one. So one day, of course, while he was out, the children decided to use precisely that saddle. But they couldn’t get it properly onto the horse or pony. It fell off, into the mud, and was a bit scratched up. When Brigham came home, he saw what had happened. He was furious. He scolded the children severely, angrily grabbed the saddle and placed it back where it belonged, and stomped off to the Beehive House, slamming the door behind him.

Keep in mind that Brigham Young was extremely wealthy. He had large homes (both summer and winter and vacation homes) as well as homes for his numerous wives. Brigham also had servants, distilleries, cattle ranches, lumber mills, enormous tracks of land, farms, hotels, etc. Michael Quinn puts his personal wealth at the time of his death at $34,969,000.00 to be exact. See. D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Wealth and Corporate Power (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2017).

Brigham Young probably owned dozens of saddles to go along with his lavish lifestyle and dozens of horses. Maybe it's just me, but the story about Brigham flying into a rage over his saddle isn't faith promoting. To me, it's a story about how wealth, power and a lavish lifestyle entitled and corrupted a man to put material goods above others.

To me, it would have been faith promoting if Brigham would have gently sat down with his manservant or children (depending on which myth you believe more) and told them a parable about forgiveness and Jesus wiping the slate clean. I guess one man's faith promoting story is another man's eye-roll.

[Kishkumen]

I have an easy answer to these issues: Brigham Young was a human being and not one that I particularly revere.

[Gadianton]

Was the proprietor's point that the first version, Where Brigham flies off the handle but then apologizes to the Lord, is an interpolation and the second version, where Brigham brings the terror down with no apology is the true version? Therefore, apologists are justified in blasting anybody who crosses them personally without reconsideration?

You have to wonder if he believes there's any truth to the first story, if he's ever looked back at the decades of heated interactions with critics and considered if there was ever a single time he apologized to the Lord and committed to do better?

[IHAQ]

Was the proprietor's point that the first version, Where Brigham flies off the handle but then apologizes to the Lord, is an interpolation and the second version, where Brigham brings the terror down with no apology is the true version? Therefore, apologists are justified in blasting anybody who crosses them personally without reconsideration?

You have to wonder if he believes there's any truth to the first story, if he's ever looked back at the decades of heated interactions with critics and considered if there was ever a single time he apologized to the Lord and committed to do better?

Does either version articulate that Brigham went and apologised to the people he berated? Or is it that he just excused himself by a few words of cowardly remorse to a supernatural person in private?