| 266 "At my return to my home, after the sitting of the Amboy conference, the news of what I had done spread rapidly. My action was commented upon largely in the newspapers, nearly everywhere, and various speculations in regard to motive, object, and method of procedure were offered, among them the following:-
"An attorney of Quincy, Illinois, by the name of Godfrey, whose specialty appeared to be the securing of obscure claims, presented to me the subject of reinstating the claims to Missouri lands forfeited and abandoned by the saints in their expulsion from that State. He had secured by vigorous research a list of names of those whose claims he believed could be made good, and offered to perfect the titles, being at all the expense and trouble, for a specific share of the lands, titles to which should be so perfected; my part of the business was to assist him to the names of others who might be entitled to lands there, secure their coöperation, powers of attorney, consent, etc. Besides this, there were some lands to which it was supposed Mother and her children might be entitled, to which we were to present our personal claims. The agreement was consummated between Mr. Godfrey and myself, and, in keeping with this agreement, Major Lewis C. Bidamon, my stepfather, started to Independence, Missouri, to look the matter up. Before starting, my mother, the Major, and myself, held a council, in which the idea of removing from Nauvoo, to some eligible spot to which a colony of saints might gather and build a town was discussed; and when the Major departed he was requested by me to look at various points in his line of travel, and report their eligibility at his return. He was not told, nor authorized to make any selection, and was not to make his business in this regard known. He went to Jackson County, but made no discoveries of value touching our claims to Missouri lands; but assuming extra powers, he proceeded to Weston, Missouri, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and to Florence, Nebraska, at the last-named places stating that he was looking for a place for the Josephite Mormons to settle. Men of wealth and enterprise interested in both these places presented the claims of their respective localities, and made
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