CLARKSTON, Utah — Of the approximately 33,000 people who attended the Martin Harris Pageant this year were Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve and his family.
Elder Oaks met with pageant officials and visited the monument marking the grave site of Brother Harris, remembered as one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, a man who took every opportunity to bear testimony of having been shown the Nephite plates in vision by an angel of the Lord, whose dying words were a reiteration of that testimony.
The outdoor drama is presented in an amphitheater not far from the Clarkston Cemetery where Brother Harris is buried.
Elder Oaks spoke of Brother Harris in his April 1999 general conference address.
"I have been saddened at how he is remembered by most Church members," Elder Oaks said. "He deserves better than to be remembered solely as the man who unrighteously obtained and then lost the initial manuscript pages of the Book of Mormon."
He noted that one of Martin Harris' greatest contributions to the Church, "for which he should be honored for all time, was his financing the publication of the Book of Mormon. In August 1829, he mortgaged his home and farm. . . . Seven months later, the 5,000 copies of the first printing of the Book of Mormon were completed. Later, when the mortgage note fell due, the home and a portion of the farm were sold for $3,000."
Elder Oaks taught in his talk that the 116 pages from the Book of Mormon manuscript were not merely misplaced, they "were stolen from him, lost and probably burned."
"Martin's subsequent faithfulness," Elder Oaks said, "continues under a shadow from which this important man should be rescued."
Such a rescue has been the role of the Martin Harris Pageant since 1983, over which time more than a half-million people have attended the production, said Rhett James, an institute of religion instructor who created the pageant.
" 'Martin Harris, the Man Who Knew,' recounts the history of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, Martin Harris' struggle against family, town and county to defend and support the youthful Prophet Joseph Smith Jr.," Brother James synopsized.
"Martin Harris grieved that his wife Lucy Harris did not join the Church. Martin Harris continued to labor to preach the restored gospel to family through all opposition and was promised that he would 'yet teach them, even thy wife that she may be saved in the day of eternity.' After Lucy's early death in 1836, Martin married Carolyn Young, niece to Brigham Young, and raised a family strong in the faith. In 1870, Martin, Carolyn and the children were united in Utah, Carolyn having preceded the aging Martin in their arrival in Utah."
Descendants of Martin Harris today are one of the strong families in the Church, Brother James noted. "Every year hundreds of Martin Harris' descendants visit the pageant and are active missionaries, assisting in teaching the gospel at the pageant site and at the burial place of Martin Harris."
He quoted Leonard Harris, longtime president of the Martin Harris Family Organization, as saying, "We desire to see the Church of Jesus Christ roll forth, Brother Martin's testimony and witness joined to those others called as witnesses in this dispensation."
Of the 33,000 free tickets distributed this year, 9,600 were ordered by stake missionaries intending to bring non-LDS friends.
"Each year many are converted to the Church who attend the pageant, brought by missionaries and friends," said Pres. Denzel Clark of the pageant.
Director Duane Huff said that each of the hundreds of cast members "has a missionary and fellowshipping role. Many of the cast circulate through the audience before the production chatting and welcoming guests to the site. It is a marvelous experience."
