th less money than he came. I mention these two
freaks of Joe Smith, as they explain the money-digger's system of fraud.

It would hardly be believed that, especially among the cunning Yankees,
such "mines and treasures" stories should be credited; but it is a
peculiar feature in the US that the inhabitants, so difficult to
overreach in other matters, will greedily take the bait when "mines" or
"hidden treasure" are spoken of. In Missouri and Wisconsin, immense
beds of copper ore and lead have been discovered in every direction.
Thousands of poor, ignorant farmers, emigrants from the East, have
turned diggers, miners, and smelters. Many have accumulated large
fortunes in the space of a few years, and have returned "wealthy
gentlemen" to their own native state, much to the astonishment of their
neighbours.

Thus has the "mining spirit" been kept alive, and impostors of every
variety have reaped their harvest, by speculating upon the well-known
avidity of the "_people of America_!"

It was in the beginning of 1827, that Joe, in a trip to Pittsburg,
became acquainted with Rigdon. A great intimacy took place betwixt
them, and they paid each other alternate visits--Joe coming to Pittsburg
and Rigdon going to the Susquehanna, _for pleasure excursions, at a
friend's_. It was also during the same year that the Smith family
assumed a new character. In the month of June, Joseph Smith, senior,
went to a wealthy, but credulous farmer, and related the following
story:--

"That some years ago, a spirit had appeared to Joe, his son, and, in a
vision, informed him that in a certain place there was a record on
plates of gold, and that he was the person who must obtain them, and
this he must do in the following manner:--On the 22nd of September, he
must repair to the place where these plates of gold were deposited,
dressed in black clothes, and riding a black horse, with a switch tail,
and demand the plates in a certain name; and, after obtaining them, he
must immediately go away, and neither lay them down nor look behind
him."

The farmer gave credit to old Smith's communication. He accordingly
fitted out Joseph with a suit of black clothes, and borrowed a black
horse. Joe (by his own account) repaired to the place of deposit, and
demanded the plates, which were in a stone box, unsealed, and so near
the surface of the ground that he could see one end of it; raising the
lid up, he took out the plates of gold; but fearing so