[Council of Fifty]
... The House having been called and duly opened by Prayre, the subject of securing the Public Arm[s] was taken up. Pres. B[righam] Young said that all Hell was upon our tract & that it was necessary & highly important to adopt some measures to secure the Public arms. As yet the Idea has gone out by those that have gone back to the States, that we are asleep as to preparing for Warr. We wanted that influence to go out in order to give us time to prepare for them. Let a smaul Fraim [house], 12 by 16 feet, be Built immediately for the safety of the Public Arms, equipage and ammunition. Let there be a man appointed who is competent to take charge of them & keep them in good order. A building of this kind can be moved about when necessary & when we get time, we will build a First rate Arsnel. ... 32 dollars were raised out of the Council. Every member presant donated one dollar, P[arley] P. Pratt & Reynold[s] Cahoon excepted. Reynolds Cahoon was then appointed the committee to Superintend the Erection of the building & Thomas Tanner was appointed the arimour [armorer]. Pres. B. Young said that he [Tanner] was the only man in this valley that [can] understand the duty of an armorer, & he can mak[e] any part of a cannon, Musket or rifle & is qualified to repair & keep in repair all the guns that belongs to the armory. ...
[John D. Lee diary, 87–88, as quoted in Jedediah S. Rogers (editor), The Council of Fifty: A Documentary History, Signature Books (2014)]
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