Dimick Baker Huntington (May 26, 1808 – February 1, 1879) was a leading Indian interpreter in early

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th sta ...

. He commissioned a 22-foot-long missionary panorama of C. C. A. Christensen to use in his presentations of the gospel to the Native Americans in 1871. That missionary panorama is housed in the Church History Museum of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Biography

Huntington was the son of

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

and Zina Baker Huntington. He was born at Watertown,

Jefferson County, New York Jefferson County is a county on the northern border of the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 116,721. Its county seat is Watertown. The county is named after Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United St ...

. Huntington married Fanny Marie Allen on April 28, 1830, they eventually had seven children. Huntington was baptized into the Church of the Latter Day Saints on August 1, 1835, the same year as his parents. Huntington first enters the annals of Mormon history as the first to see

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, h ...

land in Illinois after his escape from jail in Missouri. Huntington also took Smith the four miles distance to the house where

Emma Smith Emma Hale Smith Bidamon (July 10, 1804 – April 30, 1879) was an American homesteader, the official wife of Joseph Smith, and a prominent leader in the early days of the Latter Day Saint movement, both during Smith's lifetime and afterward as ...

was staying. In March 1841, Huntington was appointed one of the constables of

Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and its ...

. In October 1841, Huntington brought the testimony that led to the excommunication of John A. Hicks, the elders

quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to '' Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

president in Nauvoo, for falsehood and schismatic conversation. In 1842, Huntington was made coroner of Nauvoo. After Joseph Smith's death, Huntington was among those who prepared Joseph and

Hyrum Smith Hyrum Smith (February 9, 1800 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the older brother of the movement's founder, Jo ...

's bodies for burial and buried them in a secret location underneath the

Nauvoo House The Nauvoo House in Nauvoo, Illinois, is a boarding house that Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, began constructing in the 1840s. The boarding house was never completed, but the structure was later converted into a resi ...

. Huntington was a member of the

Mormon Battalion The Mormon Battalion was the only religious unit in United States military history in federal service, recruited solely from one religious body and having a religious title as the unit designation. The volunteers served from July 1846 to July ...

. His family had come with him and they went to

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most popu ...

. One of Fanny's children was born there on January 1, 1847. Huntington was one of the members of Parley P. Pratt's company that explored southern Utah in 1849. Huntington was also among the first settlers of Provo, Utah. Huntington was the first Indian interpreter in Utah Territory. In 1855, he negotiated a peace with the Utes in the vicinity of

Fillmore, Utah Fillmore is a city and the county seat of Millard County, Utah, United States. The population was 2,435 at the 2010 United States Census. It is named for the thirteenth US President Millard Fillmore, who was in office when Millard County was cre ...

. In 1857, Huntington was closely associated with teaching the gospel to many Native Americans, and kept a journal of his activities. Among other things he recorded

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

ordaining

Tutsegabit Tutsegabit was a 19th-century leader of the Piede (Chemehuevi) bands of the Paiute tribe. In 1857 Tutsegabit was the chief of six bands of Chemehuevi Piutes (Piedes). Together with another Chemehuevi chief, Youngwuds, some Tonaquint Pahute chiefs ...

an elder on September 10, 1857. In 1868, Huntington was among those who negotiated the end of Utah's Black Hawk War. He commissioned a 22-foot-long missionary panorama of C. C. A. Christensen, showing Bible and Book of Mormon scenes to the Native Americans in 1871. In 1873, missionaries under the leadership of George Washington Hill baptized about 100 Shoshone. Speaking to the Indians in their own language, Hill showed the missionary panorama and taught about the Bible and Book of Mormon. The Shoshone then settled on farmland north of Tremonton, Utah. The Indians later moved north to southern Idaho and named the new community Washakie, after a Shoshone chief. In 1874, Huntington ordained

Kanosh Kanosh ( ) is a town in Millard County, Utah, United States. The population was 474 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.2 km2), all land. Cli ...

an elder in

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...

.Jensen. ''Encyclopedic History''. p. 390] Huntington worked as a blacksmith and was also drum-major of the

Nauvoo Legion The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States. With growing antagonism from surrounding settlements it came to have as its main function the defense of Nauvoo, and surrounding Latter Day Sain ...

band. He later held a similar position with a band in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

. For the last several years of his life, Huntington served as

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in ce ...

of the Salt Lake Stake.

References

Sources

*R. Devan Jensen. ''Philo Dibble's Dream of 'a Gallery in Zion.'' Journal of Mormon History 44, no. 4 (2018): 19–39

* Orson F. Whitney. ''History of Utah''
p. 209-211
*

Andrew Jenson Andrew Jenson, born Anders Jensen, (December 11, 1850 – November 18, 1941) was a Danish immigrant to the United States who acted as an Assistant Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for much of the ...

. ''Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia''. Vol. 4
p. 748
*

B. H. Roberts Brigham Henry Roberts (March 13, 1857 – September 27, 1933) was a historian, politician, and leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He edited the seven-volume ''History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

. '' Comprehensive History of the Church''. Vol. 3, p. 479. {{DEFAULTSORT:Huntington, Dimick B. 1808 births 1879 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in the United States Converts to Mormonism Members of the Mormon Battalion Mormon pioneers Patriarchs (LDS Church) People from Watertown, New York American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Nauvoo, Illinois city council members Latter Day Saints from New York (state) Latter Day Saints from Illinois Latter Day Saints from Utah American blacksmiths American coroners

Biography

See also

References

Sources