Bishop John H. Koyle: Financial Prognosticator For The Latter Days

In Part I of the Dream Mine story, we saw that there were those in Church leadership who supported Bishop Koyle's visions, and even bought stock in the "Dream Mine." However, support from Church headquarters lessened after geologist and theologian James E. Talmage denounced the endeavor.



In a meeting on August 7, 1913, the First Presidency decided to send Elder Francis M. Lyman of the Council of Twelve Apostles to Spanish Fork for the purpose of releasing John Koyle as bishop of the Leland Ward. [8] Acting under the orders of Francis Lyman, the Stake President released John Koyle as bishop, in which office he had served since May 31, 1908. President Joseph F. Smith and his two counselors signed a statement published by the church-owned Deseret News that year, saying "when visions, dreams, tongues, prophecy, impressions or an extraordinary gift of inspiration conveys something out of harmony with the accepted revelations of the church . . . it is not of God, no matter how plausible it may appear. . . . It is our duty to warn against mining schemes which have no warrant for success." [9]


Koyle continued his activities at the mine, digging for gold, and selling stock to faithful believers. At an advanced age, representatives of the Church pressured Koyle to sign a statement repudiating his claims. [10] Immediately afterward, he recanted, and Apostle Mark E. Peterson was sent to Spanish Fork to advise the local authorities on his excommunication. [11] Some sources indicate that John H. Koyle was excommunicated on April 16, 1848. [12] Others insist that the excommunication record cannot be found, and that since Koyle had received his Second Anointing, an excommunication would not have been possible. [13]

John H. Koyle died 17 May 1949 in Payson.

The mine continued in fits and starts under the leadership of Quayle Dixon for another twenty-three years. In 1961, a new company, The Relief Mine Company, succeeded the Koyle Mining Company and continued to do the minimum $100 per claim annual assessment work. [14]

Interest in the Dream Mine has surged with the recent economic troubles coinciding with the Presidential election in the United States. I read with interest some of the prophecies made by Bishop Koyle and how they line up with current events. Here are some of Koyle's purported statements:

The angel who appeared to Bishop Koyle told him, "The Lord has called you to open up a rich gold mine for the benefit of Zion and the world in a time of trouble such as the world has not known. This time of trouble will be ushered in by a financial crash; we go to bed at night and awake in the morning with no light, water, gas or heat. The money will become worthless, not worth the paper it is written on, an armful would not buy a loaf of bread."

Bishop Koyle said that Wall Street would have a major drop sometime before the total failure and that the Government would step in to help save it.

Koyle was shown that our entire wage and price structure had risen higher and higher so that it was like it was up on high stilts, and then suddenly it was as if someone over-night had kicked the stilts out from under it, and the whole thing came down with a crash to about 20 cents on the dollar. Property would only be worth l/5 of its former value, but mortgage and other fixed debts would remain the same.

$20 bills would blow like trash in the gutter, not worth the trouble of bending over to pick them up. A bushel of gold would buy a bushel of wheat.

The US would call its military home from all over the world just to keep the greenbacks home and to keep the peace.

When it was time for the mine to turn out, he said, there was a light complexioned man with white hair who would come from east of the mine with a big check to finance the first shipment of ore.

Koyle saw that the US President would die in office just a while after the mine came in. He saw them look up and down the country everywhere to try to find a man to take his place and they would not be able to find one and the nation wandered in chaos. That's how bad it will get. [15]

Interesting prophecies, don't you think??

I think I'll pause here for comments, and put up one more post later on the status of the Dream Mine and its followers. Please sign in and tell us what you think about Koyle's prophecies and why you think some Latter-day Saints are seriously considering the idea that the Dream Mine is about to start producing gold!


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[8] The Relief Mine website, Overview

[9] Salt Lake Tribune, 1999, "The Dream Mine sits near Salem, the product of visions received by a Utah County farmer", courtesy of Phil Miller

[10] The Relief Mine website. See also Ogden Kraut, The Relief Mine I Koyle decided to sign a statement repudiating the mine and his angelic vision , and would cease his weekly mine conferences (which have been compared to revival meetings, in exchange for a meeting with the LDS Church's First Presidency. Koyle believed he could change President Smith's mind about the mine, because he had been given information by Moroni that would convince the LDS leader. This agreement was broken when Koyle's statement was published on the front page of the Deseret News the next day. Koyle was not invited to meet with the First Presidency. He became incensed, resumed his Thursday meetings, and assured his shaken followers that he had signed only to preserve his church membership.

[11] Historical Study of the Koyle Relief Mine, 1894-1962, Christianson, p. 55

[12] Deseret News, May 19, 1949, John H. Koyle Obituary

[13]

[14] Utah History Encyclopedia, "Dream Mine," Jay M. Haymond.