Bishop Koyle said a very difficult winter, that breaks state records, would be a signpost that the mine is about to come in. There are some who say that winter took place 2022-2023. Other folks think the storm is still yet to come. While still others believe there will NOT be a long hard winter because it wasn't specifically mentioned by Koyle in the Thursday night meetings held on the hill.
I'm not an authority figure on the topic, but I do believe Lynn Bishop has spent more time researching this than anyone else. His documentation is good. He also takes into consideration that Norman Pierce, author of one of the Dream Mine books, admitted to changing his story several times to make it sound like the mine would come during his lifetime.
Quote from THE WINDING UP SCENE Vol.1, pp.125-132
by Lynn L. Bishop
Weather Conditions Preceding Mine Vindication
Bishop Koyle is often quoted as prophesying that the coming in of the Dream Mine will be introduced by a heavy Winter, a water-logged Spring, and a dry, hot summer, and that a mild Fall, a mild Winter, and a four-year famine would follow. But an analysis of the evidence reveals that there are a number of inaccuracies and misunderstood aspects of this sequence. Since it is often easier to see the individual trees of the forest after one first sees the shape of the forest itself, we shall first present the conclusions of this analysis, and secondly the discussion which leads to the conclusions:
- Heavy Winter: Bishop Koyle was told by the first heavenly messenger that there would be a very heavy Winter before the mine came in, and that this Winter would break many records, but Bishop Koyle did not say that this heavy winter would be the winter which immediately precedes the coming in of the mine. It might be such a winter, but it might occur any time between the time Bishop Koyle said it and the time the mine 'comes in'.
- Waterlogged Spring: Bishop Koyle did have a dream showing him a very wet Spring in which there would be much flooding from one end of the State to the other, but he specifically denied that he ever said there would be a water-logged Spring the same year that the mine came in. This is not to say that there will not be such a Spring, but only that Bishop Koyle said that he didn't say there would be one just preceding the 'coming in' of the mine.
- Long Hot Summer: Bishop Koyle did speak of a hot summer preceding the mine 'coming in', but there are conflicting references on the relationship between this summer and exactly when the mine will produce. Some quote him as saying that the mine will come in during but near the end of this long hot summer, while others quote him as saying that the mine will come in just AFTER this hot summer, and in a very mild Fall which will be like Spring. But a hot summer ending with the mine coming in has been confused with another significant, hot summer that was foretold, namely the hot summer that ends with the beginning of the four-year famine. (See below.)
- Mild Winter: Bishop Koyle did speak of a very mild winter following the mine 'coming in', a winter during which the wheat bins and White City will be built.
- Drought or Four-year Famine: Bishop Koyle spoke of a drought and a four-year famine. We are now in a drought (with periods of rain) which, according to current national news reports, has been going on for six years. Obviously then, this is not the four-year famine during which there will be no rain. The four-year famine comes after the mild winter and begins at the end of a hot summer after the Relief Mine has already been producing for a while, and after reaching the nine Nephite rooms, but this is almost a year after the mine comes in.
Unfortunately, there is much disagreement and controversy among stockholders on these possible events with respect to the mine. We shall now discuss the analysis which has led to our conclusions.
The Heavy Winter and Water-logged Spring:
Bishop John H. Koyle, a visionary man who often saw the future and was frequently instructed by heavenly messengers, stated that before the Relief Mine 'comes in,' there would be a heavy winter throughout Utah that would break all records. Bishop Koyle also foretold that he saw much flooding from one end of the State to the other and that the streets of many towns and cities would be filled with the flow of muddy water. Bishop Koyle died in 1949. A couple of years after Bishop Koyle died, there was a terrible winter, 1951-1952, which broke records for total snowfall. This was followed by a very wet Spring of much flooding throughout the State. In Salt Lake City, it was necessary to sandbag the sides of 13th South to contain a canal of water which was diverted to the Great Salt Lake. A number of dream miners wrote about this:
Norman C. Pierce: "About this time Bishop Koyle had another of his same prophetic dreams which I heard him relate, saying: 'It looks like it won't be long now before we'll be having some of the big troubles we've been expecting. I saw in a dream the other night that muddy water would flow in the streets like rivers in almost every community from one end of the state to the other. When it comes, it's going to cause a lot of trouble for a lot of people around here. It will be the beginning of really big troubles.'
The account of its fulfillment, if it is not still so clear in your memories, will be found when you come to the part of this history that deals with the year 1952. An even greater fulfillment remains to be witnessed to mark the time for the Dream Mine to turn out. Dual fulfillment is sometimes noted in history, the first being a 'type' of a greater fulfillment which is to come. In the due time of the Lord we shall see it." [DMS 90]
Steve Wood: "Also, he [Bishop Koyle] saw where the water would run down the streets of Salt Lake City. In the spring of about 1951 [actually 1952] we had a real river of about three feet deep running west on 13th South. The streetcars went across on a bridge that was elevated at least four feet. Both sides of the street were sandbagged to a height of about four feet. I saw a man in about an 18-foot boat going west from State Street." [BKDM in RMII 205]
"Mud will flow down the streets of Spanish Fork indicating the wickedness of the people." [JJ#74, p.9 quoted in RM II, p.227, #59]
"The Leland area West of Spanish Fork will be like a marsh during the wet soggy spring." [JJ#79, p.10]
This heavy winter and water-logged Spring is possibly the imminent one Bishop Koyle dreamed of, and it may have been the heavy winter which the messenger told Bishop Koyle would occur before the mine 'comes in.' However, some dream miners had the impression that the messenger told Bishop Koyle that the heavy winter would occur near to and preceding the 'coming in' of the Dream Mine:
"The mine will come in following an unusually hard winter. There will be heavy snows and a late wet spring. After two weeks of planting time, heavy rains will pelt the seed out of the ground. Then, hot dry winds will commence to dry everything up, including the few remaining plants." [JJ#78, p.10 quoted in RM II, p.227, #65]
Norman Pierce: "He [Bishop Koyle] gave a number of signposts by which we would know and recognize the approach of this crisis. 1) A long, hard winter that would do much damage." [DMS 54]
Lavawn Owen: "The Bishop said there would be a heavy winter just before the Mine comes in, and it will be the worst winter ever. Immediately following this winter, there will be flooding and a very wet spring." [LO, May, 1993]
Steve Wood: "He [Bishop Koyle] also saw the Mine would come in after a hard winter followed by a water-logged spring, then a dry hot summer, and when the wheat was in the boot, the Bishop came out of the tunnel with the first gold in his hands." [BKDM in RMII 202]
Joseph Geertsen told me that his son Jim heard Bishop Koyle emphatically state in response to the wide-spread gossip and talk among the stockholders who were trying to make sense of all his prophecies, etc., that he never said that there would be a water-logged Spring immediately following the record-breaking winter and immediately preceding the coming in of the Relief Mine. Because of the varying stories among many of the stockholders, I rely more on those whom I talked with many times and who worked with Bishop Koyle and the mine and who proved to be very careful about what was stated by the Bishop. Joseph Geertsen was just such a person. He questioned Bishop Koyle carefully about the things he said. He told me many times that he was disappointed with Norman Pierce, and others who were so anxious for the mine to come in that they twisted and modified things that the Bishop was supposed to have said, in order to make the current signs appear that the mine was going to 'come in' right away. I asked Norman Pierce about this and why he was continually doing this. He admitted that he did this and told me that he couldn't stand waiting for the 'coming in' of the mine? He even published this response a number of times. I answered that truth was whatever it was regardless of what we desire it to be.
According to Joseph Geertsen, of all the accounts given of the Dream Mine and Bishop Koyle's prophecies, the most accurate one was the Story of the Dream Mine by Claude F. Weight. Claude Weight said that Bishop Koyle did not say how many, if any, winters there would be between 'the' heavy winter and the mild winter which would immediately precede the beginning of the four-year-famine that was to come.
Claude Weight: "The messenger [Moroni] explained that there would be a winter of heavy snow and big snow drifts after which there would be a mild open winter, but whether that winter was to follow immediately or whether some other winters would be in between, he never explained.
However, immediately following the mild open winter, there would be a hot, dry summer. The crops would come up in the spring, and there would be considerable moisture, and the crops would be glorious (that is the word Bishop used to use.) He saw the wheat would grow up and head out beautifully, and the irrigated wheat would mature, but the dry land wheat would not have enough moisture to fill out. By harvest time the heads would curl over in a sort of crescent shape. . . . He was told by the messenger that this condition would bring about a shortage of food during the first year of harvest." [The Story of the Dream Mine, pp.5-6.]
Thirty years after the heavy winter of 1951-1952, another heavy winter occurred which may have been the one foretold by Moroni. This was the winter of 1982-1983 which was also a heavy winter for total moisture and was followed by a very wet Spring. Again, many mud slides and much flooding occurred from one end of the State to the other. This was so disastrous, that a whole town was wiped off the map. This was Thistle which became a lake of water and mud. Again, much sandbagging was required in many towns in order to contain and restrict the boundaries of the flood waters. Bountiful area [Stone Creek] and Salt Lake City [City Creek] were but two among many examples throughout the State.
However, a third candidate for the foretold heavy winter occurred in 1992-1993, just eleven to twelve years ago, in which the total snowfall and many related troubles exceeded previous records throughout the State in many cities and in the mountains. El Nino was identified by meteorologists as the culprit.
Following the trouble in Utah and other Rocky Mountain States, the next several years were filled with record-breaking disasters throughout this Nation and the World. There were hurricanes of furious destruction, great rivers swelled to fantastic heights and many places were drastically ruined by the flood. There were tornados, ice storms, 'unbelievable' snow depths, and many more tragedies. During the summers, there were record-breaking heat waves causing many deaths. There were devastating earthquakes in California and throughout the world. There were fatal volcanic eruptions throughout the world, including in the United States. One recent peak of disaster was Hurricane Mitch which demolished much of Honduras and the adjacent States. The death toll and destruction were 'mind boggling.'
Is the heavy winter of 1992-1993 the one Bishop Koyle referred to, or is there still to come an even worse winter just preceding the coming in of the mine? Was the foretold heavy winter simply a significant event which would happen 'sometime before' but not necessarily immediately before the mine 'comes in?' This is how Bishop Koyle stated other prophesied events as well. For instance, he foretold that the trolley rails in Salt Lake City would be removed before the mine 'comes in.' This was fulfilled in 1952.
Time is running out. As stated earlier, there have been at least three significantly heavy winters since Bishop Koyle died: 1951-1952; 1982-1983; and 1992-1993. It has now [2004] been eleven years since the third record-breaking winter. If the heavy winter was to occur near or immediately before the mine 'comes in,' then even the third heavy winter may not be the one Bishop Koyle was told about. Therefore, as time continues to go on without the Relief Mine coming in, the likelihood becomes greater that there will yet be another heavy winter preceding the coming in of the Mine, a winter breaking all the records of the previous record-breaking winters.
Perhaps, according to other signposts which are being fulfilled, there is not enough time left for another very heavy winter to occur before the mine comes in. Of course, time will tell. Most students of prophecy have thought many times in the past, that according to the world-wide signs they were seeing, the Setting-in-order and coming in of the Dream Mine must happen right away. But the dates and times which they thought could not pass by without fulfillment did pass without the expected prophecies being fulfilled. By the same token, then, there may still be a number of years before the Dream Mine 'comes in.' Or, it may finally come in sooner than some believe.
A true and inspired prophetic giant of our times, Lorin C. Woolley, also foretold that the weather patterns in the years preceding the 'winding up scene' would be all out of 'kilter' and topsy turvy, and that the seasons would get mixed up 'snow outside of the winter season and Spring weather in Winter, etc. This indeed has been the case.
Is there a pattern that emerges from all these judgments we have observed to have taken place already? all the heavy winters, and other unusual weather patterns which have occurred since the death of Bishop Koyle? Is there 'rhyme or reason' to all this? Is the Lord trying to tell us something? Is this a great Divine Hint? God is trying to tell us that unless we repent we are headed for even greater judgments. These unusual judgments are definitely a result of the greatly increasing wickedness of the world which is spiraling and accelerating towards the ultimate judgments that are described in the Book of Revelation.
In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord warns that 'judgments' will begin at 'His House,' first among the Mormon people who have blasphemed the name of the Lord in Holy places. Judgments begin where there is initially the most light given by the Lord. The Mormon people, in general, have received the most revelation among the well known nations of the Earth. At the same time, the Mormon people, speaking collectively and not individually, have jumped on the bandwagon of the world's wickedness, as it rushes downward to destruction. But where there is much given, there is much responsibility required. Thus, judgments begin first among those who, more than other peoples, should know better.
