The Historians Corner [Introduction, 15:1]

The continuing intent of the Historians Corner is to introduce our readers to little-known and important documents that enrich their understanding of some phases of LDS Church history. Sometimes we have directed the corner toward a particular theme. This time, however, we present three very different documents, each of which is interesting in its own right, each giving us a new dimension on the Church or its leaders. The first entry presents a memorandum that reveals an interesting gentile proposal for a Mormon settlement on the island of Santo Domingo in the Caribbean. The second is a very human document which shows the frustrations of a leader of the Church, Wilford Woodruff, as he prepares to go into hiding to escape arrest by anti-Mormon Federal marshals in the 1880s. The last entry is also from Wilford Woodruff, but it reveals a very different side of his nature from that which most Church members view him: a hunting and fishing enthusiast.