I found a couple quotes from this book which help to add some depth to Isaac's activity in the "Echo Canyon Affair." I have not delved deeper in this book, neither do I plan to. I do not accept him as a historian who looks at facts in a neutral fashion, but as on who tries to make events meet his preconceived ideas. I refer to this article from FARMS with regards to this.
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/review/?vol=15&num=2&id=509
The quotes:
Bagley, blood of the prophets
Meanwhile, the Mormons walked a dangerous tightrope. They worked desperately to stop the army before it could enter the territory even as they tried to avoid igniting a bloody confrontation that would lead to war. They implemented a defensive strategy based on local geography. There were two practical ways to get the army into Utah, the first following the main road west through Echo Canyon along the line of present Interstate 80 and the second and longer route going north to the Oregon Trail and Soda Springs and the south along the Bear River. On both fronts, the Mormons strengthened their defenses. They fortified Echo Canyon, forty-five miles east of Salt Lake, building crude rock breastworks on top of its steep walls. They damned the gorge and dug ditches; these improvements might not permit the Saints to drown Johnston’s men like Pharaoh’s army, but they would let the defenders flood the road for several miles. (Bagley p 180)
By mid-October the Nauvoo Legion had eleven hundred men under arms in the mountains and seven hundred men in reserve in Salt Lake. Three thousand more troops could be called up to defend the canyon on fifteen hours’ notice. (Bagley p 182)
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