Sarah Driggs

Sarah Rogers Driggs, who as a child had sat on the knee of the Prophet Joseph Smith and whose brother had served in the Mormon Battalion, felt such an independence of spirit. One day she was out raking the yard when Sterling Driggs, a fellow who had been courting her, hurried up to her and said, “President Brigham Young told me to tell you he wants to see you up at his office.”

It seems that the prophet had called Sterling to go with a company to help settle San Bernardino, California. Sterling told President Young he was willing to go if he could take along Sarah as his wife. He said he liked her but she didn’t seem to like him.

When Sterling came running up to her, Sarah thought she knew what was in store, so she quickly replied, “You go back and tell President Young, Sterling Driggs, that he’s got as much shoe leather to wear out as I have, and he can come here if he wants to see me.” Then after Sterling had gone, she hurriedly got cleaned up and went to the President’s office.

After receiving the call to go to San Bernardino as Sterling’s wife, she accepted and made the trip. Unfortunately, Sterling lost his life in a threshing machine accident a few years later. Sarah did not remarry, but sustained herself and family by keeping a boarding house. When she was troubled by a molester, according to her family, she simply hauled out her six gun and demonstrated how accurately she could shoot.

SOURCE: From an article entitled, "Latter-day Saint Women on the Arizona Frontier, " by Leonard J. Arrington, Church Historian. This article was found on the following website:

https://www.lds.org/new-era/1974/04/latter-day-saint-women-on-the-a...