Introduction

THE writer of this History cannot say exactly what the Roman historian did: "Part of which I was, and all of which I saw." But Brother Mattoon has been no unimportant actor in the doings of our beloved Zion on this coast, and has seen and heard very much of what he undertakes to describe and place on record. As I look back over the half century which is covered by the records boiled down here, I cannot repress the feeling that the Lord has appointed and preserved him for this special undertaking. No other man has gathered and preserved the Minutes, documents and papers, and had the wide personal acquaintance necessary; and no other man has had the patience and faith necessary for this duty. But such as it is--the best possible with the means and talent at command--this book, and labor of love and duty combined, is commended to the sympathetic interests of all lovers of the truth about the grand pioneer men, who laid the foundations on which their more favored successors are building.

W. CAREY JOHNSON.