Chapter Eleven: In Utah
“Took an active part in the Echo Canyon trouble.”
A Song for 1858 (to the tune “a man’s a man for a’ that”)
Who in
all Deseret’s afraid
Of Uncle
Sam of a’ that?
His
wond’rous power, his great parade
Of
soldiers, arms and a’ that;
And a’
that, and a’ that,
His
wisdom, wealth, and a’ that;
‘Gainst
Mormon right, be long may fight,
And yet
be fooled, for a’ that.
A Lion
couches in the path,
And
tigers firce, and a’ that,
Let dogs
beware, lest in their wrath,
They be
devoured, and a’ that.
And
a’that, and a’ that,
Though
numerous, and a’ that;
The
Lion’s roar can chase five score
Back in
dismay, and a’ that!
The
elements themselves have joined
The
Mormon side, and a’ that,
Old
Uncle’s truly growling blind,
Good
faith, he never saw that;
And a’
that, and a’ that
And
better still than a’ that—
The God
of power directs our course,
And says
we’ll win, and a’ that.
With
pride we view those mountains round,
That
cleave the sky, and a’ that;
Staunch
guards of liberty they’re found,
Of virtue,
truths, and a’ that.
And a’
that, and a’ that,
God
placed them there, and a’ that;
On their
high peaks our banners fly,
Our
chieftains stand, and a’ that.
Hail to
the land where freedom reigns,
Where
prophets rule, and a’ that;
Where
sense and worth alone obtains
And
honored seat, and a’ that.
And a
that, and a’ that,
We’ve
found it here, and a’ that;
Though
hell without be moved to foam,
Here’s
peace and bliss for a’ that!
(Rowan, Mathew, South Cottonwood, Jan. 1, 1958.)
When immigrants arrived in Salt Lake, they
were warmly welcomed. “Whether they
arrived by wagon, handcart, or railroad, the immigrants were greeted warmly in
Utah. Many were eagerly awaited by
relatives who had come to Zion and sent back money for their families. Those who arrived without prior arrangements
could still look forward to excellent treatment from their ‘brothers and
sisters in the gospel.’” (Arrington and
Bitton p 35) In Isaac’s case, as
previously mentioned, he was taken into a home and provided for. “Brethren and Women came to welcome us and
took us into their homes, fed and warmed us and gave us warm clean beds to rest
our weary bodies.” (Wardle, Isaac CH)
The territory of Utah was one of
industriousness. Idleness was not
tolerated:
The
kingdom must rise on its own economic foundations. Labor was its chief virtue, and the
development of home industry its only salvation. The building of Zion must be sustained by
unceasing industry and Brigham Young meant to see that it was so. A group of idlers about the court house in
the capital city may have forgotten this.
If so they were soon reminded, after Brigham passed that way. He was quick to diagnose the symptoms and
apply the remedy. A clerk appeared among
them to take their names and soon each one of them received a call to take a
“mission” for the Kingdom; some were to raise cotton in Southern Utah, some to
make new settlements elsewhere in the Territory, and some to convert the
heathen in the South Sea Islands. The
drone had no place in Deseret. (Larson p
94)
When Isaac arrived in Salt Lake, the city held
about 15,000 residents. (See Piercy p
185) Piercy quoted a couple descriptions
of the people in the valley:
General
Wilson, Navy Agent at San Francisco, who passed through the city to California,
in writing to Hon. Trueman Smith, expressed himself concerning the citizens as
follows—“A more orderly, honest, industrious, and civil people I have never
been among than these. I have not met in
a citizen, a single idler, or any person who looks like a loafer. There is a spirit and an energy in everything
you see that cannot be equaled in any city of any size that I have ever
seen.” This was quoted in a speech by
Mr. Smith in the United States Senate in 1850.
Mr. Fuller, Editor of the New York Mirror, who has also visited the
city, writes in his paper thus—“A more industrious, honest, law-abiding
community can hardly be found. The
municipal regulations of Salt Lake City are admirable, and more moral (barring
their open polygamy) and orderly citizens, we have never seen in any part of
the world. They number very many men of
intelligence and education, and a residence of several weeks among them failed
to note a single vagabond in their midst.
They are exceedingly hospitable to California emigrants, and furnish
them supplies at reasonable rates.”
(Piercy p 112)
Isaac became associated with the Beckstead
family. “Grandfather went to West Jordan
to work for and make his home with the family of Alex Beckstead Sr.” (Rupp) “Mr. Wardle went to West Jordan to work for Alexander Beckstead’s
family. (Bateman p 6)
If this is the family where Isaac first went
to stay after crossing the plains, I don’t know, but there was a Beckstead
among the rescuers of the Handcart Companies.
(See Broomhead, CH) By early
spring, as soon as he recuperated, he went to work for Alex Beckstead in the
West Jordan area. (Wardle, Orrin) He was use to hard labor, and not one to
shirk from the same. A fellow handcart
pioneer, while recuperating from the journey, in a letter to his parents in
England made this comment, “I believe this to be about the worst place for idle
or lazy people to come to.” (Bleak, Ch
1)
Utah War
The Utah War had been brewing for some time, more than
ten years, since the saints had left for Utah.
“For many Americans, the Mormon kingdom, with its polygamy and perceived
hostility to outsiders, was an abomination. … Inflamed by exaggerated charges
from disgruntled official and dissidents newly returned from Utah, the nation
demanded action.” (Parshall) Brigham Young had asked for ten years without
outside influence, and he was given ten years to the day:
On the 24th
of July last, a number of us went to Big Cottonwood Canyon, to pass the
anniversary of our arrival into this Valley.
Ten years ago the 24th of July last, a few of the Elders
arrived here and began to plough and to plant seeds, to raise food to sustain
themselves. Whilst speaking to the
brethren of the day, I said, inadvertently.
If the people of the United States will let us alone for ten years, we
will ask no odds of them; and ten years form that very day, we had a message by
brothers Smoot, Stoddard, and Rockwell, that the Government had stopped the
mail, and that they had ordered 2,500 troops to come here and hold the
“Mormons” still. (Young, Journal of
Discourses 5:226, Sept. 1857)
Prejudice against
the Mormons had been slowly building. “Through the mid-1850s,
federal appointees returned to the East frustrated or intimidated or both, and
some of them wrote books or articles about their travails. Anti-Mormon
sentiment spread, inflamed particularly by reports of polygamy. (Roberts
2) Two issues predominated--polygamy and
control of the government. (See CES p 368)
Although conflict between the Mormons and federal
officials was common, Judge William W. Drummond was a particular problem. He was disliked by the Mormons as he
threatened to close the probate court system and had bought a mistress instead
of his wife to Salt Lake City. He caused
that his man servant should whip a member who had said something about his
character, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He escaped to California and then to New
Orleans. He said “the Mormons had
destroyed the territorial supreme court records, their leaders were disrespectful
of federal officials, a secret oath-bound band operated in Utah that knew no
law save Brigham Young’s, the Mormons and not the Indians had massacres John W.
Gunnison’s surveying party in 1854, and a state of rebellion existed in Utah. Unfortunately Drummond’s charges were
believed.” (CES p 369)
Another concern for non-Mormons was the possible
allegiance between the Mormons and Native Americans:
But by 1857,
non-Mormon newspapers from New York to California had begun reporting that the
Mormons were seeking the Indians' allegiance in case of a clash with the United
States. Some accounts were based on briefings from officials who had returned
to Washington; others, based on gossip, tended toward a more alarmist tone. For
example, on April 20, 1857, the National Intelligencer, a Washington
newspaper, put the number of the Mormons' Indian allies at 300,000, even though
the total Indian population of the Utah Territory appears to have been 20,000
at most. Young would characterize press coverage generally as "a prolonged
howl of base slander." (Roberts 2)
Utah
citizens were also upset. “Had not
Washington inflicted corrupt officers upon Utah? … Utah’s settlers did lack
government services provided to others: reliable mail, land ownership and
protection from Indians. (Parshall) The citizens of Utah demanded statehood or
independence.
President Buchanan reacted to this demand in
a strong way. “In 1857, President James
Buchanan, for political reasons, decided to replace Brigham Young as acting
governor of the Utah Territory.
Anticipating the Mormon reaction, Buchanan ordered an Army force of 2500
soldiers, under the command of Brevet General Albert Sidney Johnson, to Utah to
ensure that his orders were carried out.
Young responded by calling out the Utah Territorial Militia (also known
as the Nauvoo Legion) and placed the territory on a war footing.” (U.S. Department of the Interior)
A Mormon summary of the reason for the conflict was
written in this manner:
In 1857 Utah territory was invaded by a
hostile force of American soldiery. The
events and influences that led to this confrontation are difficult to
establish. The conflict was triggered in
1855 when David H. Burr, a non-Mormon appointed to be surveyor general of the
territory, found his work impeded by Saints understandably anxious about any
official survey of lands that they possessed only by right of occupation, not
by any explicit declaration or approval of Congress. Burr and his assistants left the territory
and reinforced the reports of Mormon skullduggery already prevalent in
Washington. Garland Hurt, an energetic
Indian agent, added his disturbing opinion that the Mormons were teaching the
Indians to distinguish between the “Mormonee” and other Americans. Not willing to accept the explanation that
Mormons had to adopt some means of letting the Indians know that they
shouldn’t be held responsible for the brutality practiced by other Americans,
Hurt alleged that the Mormons were planning to employ Native Americans in a war
of vengeance against all non-Mormon settlers and travelers.
Troubles with surveyors and Indian agents
were overshadowed by continuing strife between Mormons and federally appointed
judges. After 1855 the Utah judiciary
was headed by three non-Mormons: W.W. Drummond, George P. Stiles, and John F.
Kinney. While on the surface Kinney was
friendly to the Mormons, he represented them to Washington as being seditious
and unruly. Stiles and Drummond did not
bother to temper their distaste; the latter, especially, came to personify for
the Mormons all the injustices of the territorial system.
… Drummond’s flagrant association with a
prostitute offended the moral sense of the Saints. Perhaps most threatening was his attack on
the probate courts, with Mormon bishops as probate judges, which had ruled on
both civil and criminal cases. At the
time he accused Mormons of destroying court records, an accusation later proved
false. Offensive as his personal
character might have been, Drummond played an important role in sparking the
national reaction to Utah.
…The Mormons had picked an awkward time to
establish their semi-independent kingdom in the West. The issues of slavery and states’ rights were
already dividing the nation. Northerners
wanted to make an example of Mormon rebelliousness, while some Southerners
hoped an anti-Mormon campaign might relieve the pressure on them. One Southern leader wrote to Buchanan urging
a vigorous Utah policy that would “supersede the Negro-mania with the almost
universal excitement of an Anti-Mormon Crusade.” The thousands of European Saints flocking to
Utah made it difficult to ignore the “Mormon problem,” and in fact aroused some
early anti-immigrant nativism.
But such considerations lay in the
background as predisposing conditions.
On the front of the stage Drummnd, Hurt, and others somehow persuaded
Buchanan that the Mormons were in a state of rebellion. They contended that through threats,
boycotts, and murder the Mormon leaders hoped to drive all non-Mormons from the
territory. A stream of newspaper
articles, pamphlets, novels, and public speeches enumerated supposed Mormon
treacheries and called for reprisals as extreme as a holy war of
extermination.
Buchanan and his cabinet officers found
themselves in a climate of public opinion that seemed to support any move to
protect the rights of non-Mormons, suppress Mormon home rule, and eradicate
polygamy. The President became convinced
that a vigorous anti-Mormon action could only be to his credit. By May 1857 he had decided upon a show of
military force as the best and quickest solution. But he seriously underestimated the degree to
which it would be opposed by the Mormons.
In the ensuing two years he found that his solution was anything but
quick, and even the political popularity of a Utah campaign was to prove
disappointing. (Arrington and Bitton)
A big complaint from the Mormon community against
President Buchanan is that he did not investigate, by talking to any of the
Mormons. “Utahns
complained that Buchanan had not investigated charges of violence or judicial
irregularities before sending the army; Buchanan had indeed consulted many who
had been to Utah, but without recognizing that the testimony of failed
officials might be colored by personal resentment. “ (Parshall)
The reaction of the Mormons and their leaders
is that they were being invaded by an outside force. “The issues that has been forced upon us, compels
us to resort to the great first law of self-preservation, and stand in our own
defense and right.” (CES p 370)
The US infantry was delayed in starting:
Indecision,
incompetence, and competition for lucrative contracts surrounded the
preparations of the Utah Expedition. The
first body of soldiers did not leave Fort Leavenworth until mid-July. Others did not straggle out until
September. Within weeks they were
plagued by foul weather and the indecision of their officers. William S. Harney, originally chosen to
command the army, was replaced by Colonel Albert Sidney Johnson. During the winter Johnston engaged in a
running dispute with the newly appointed governor of Utah, Alfred Cumming of
Georgia and Missouri, who accompanied the troops West. The Colonel seemed to be intent on a military
victory over the Mormons, whereas Cumming was primarily concerned with
acceptance of himself as governor.
(Arrington and Bitton)
As previously mentioned, the Mormon leaders learned of
the approach of federal troops at their annual Pioneer day celebration. “Tradition has it
that the Mormons' first hint of trouble came during a Pioneer Day picnic in
Little Cottonwood Canyon, when four horsemen thundered like Paul Revere into
the midst of the party with word that the army was coming.” (Parshall) There was suspicion, but this is the first
actual news of the advance:
Although Mormon leaders had suspected
something was afoot, they first heard of the impending invasion on July 24,
1857, the tenth anniversary of their entrance into the valley. Four dust-covered horsemen galloped into a
festive assembly and announced that a large force of American soldiers was on
its way to install a non-Mormon governor and prevent any further “rebellion.”…
The President had even neglected to send an official communication to Brigham
Young, who, in his own mind still the official governor, chose to regard the
approaching troops as a hostile army invading Utah Territory.
Determined to greet the invaders with force if necessary, The Mormons hoped
to avoid bloodshed with “scorched earth” and harassment policies that would
leave the invaders with a precarious line of supply. Young called out the territorial militia and
asked each community to donate men, firearms and provisions to the
defense. By the fall of 1857 eleven
hundred men were fortifying the mountain passes east of Great Salt Lake. Other parties were dispatched to burn Fort
Bridger and Fort Supply, Mormon-owned outposts at the eastern entrance to the
territory. (Arrington and Bitton)
Isaac
was one of those eleven hundred men called to Echo Canyon to defend against
“invasion.” “In 1857, West Jordan
volunteers took an active part in the Echo Canyon campaign against the invasion
of Johnson's Army.” (West Jordan) “While living there he [Isaac] was called to
go with others to meet Johnston’s Army in Echo Canyon.” (Rupp)
“[Isaac] took an active part in the Echo Canyon trouble.” (Esshom p 1320) “In the later summer of 1857, he was among
the men who were called to meet the invading Johnston’s Army in Echo
Canyon.” (Wardle, Orrin) Mr. Wardle...served in the militia at
Echo Canyon during the Utah War.
(Bateman p 6)
And on Sept. 15, 1857, Young placed Utah
under martial law, requiring passes for all travelers into and out of the
territory and forbidding armed forces from "invading" Utah. (Parshall)
CITIZENS OF UTAH:
We are invaded by hostile forces,
who are evidently assailing us to accomplish our overthrow and destruction.
For the last
twenty-five years we have trusted officials of the government, from Constables
and Justices to Judges, Governors and Presidents, only to be scorned, held in
derision, insulted and betrayed. Our houses have been plundered and then
burned; our fields laid waste, our principal men butchered while under the
pledged faith of the Government for their safety, and our families driven from
their homes to find that shelter in the barren wilderness, and that protection
among hostile savages, which were denied them in the boasted abodes of
Christianity and civilization.
The constitution of our common country
guarantees unto us all that we do now or ever claimed.
If the constitutional rights, which
pertain unto us as American citizens, were extended to Utah, according to the
spirit and meaning thereof, and fairly and impartially administered, it is all
that we could ask.
Our opponents have
availed themselves of prejudices existing against us, because of our religious
faith, to send out a formidable host to accomplish our destruction. We have had
no privilege, no opportunity of defending ourselves from the false, foul and
unjust aspersions against us before the Nation. The Government has not
condescended to cause an investigating committee or other person to be sent to
inquire into and ascertain the truth, as is customary in such cases. We know
those aspersions to be false, but that avails us nothing. We are condemned
unheard, and forced to an issue with an armed mercenary mob, which has been
sent against us at the instigation of anonymous letter writers, ashamed to
father the base, slanderous falsehoods which they have given to the public; of
corrupt officials who have brought false accusations against us, to screen
themselves in their own infamy; and of hireling priests and howling editors,
who prostitute the truth for filthy lucre's sake.
The issue which has been thus forced
upon us compels us to resort to the great first law of self-preservation, and
stand in our own defense, a right guaranteed unto us by the genius of the
institutions of our country, and upon which the Government is based.
Our duty to our
families requires us not to tamely submit to be driven and slain without an
attempt to preserve ourselves. Our duty to our country, our holy religion, our
God, to freedom and liberty, requires that we should not quietly stand still
and see those fetters forging around, which are calculated to enslave and bring
us into subjection to an unlawful military despotism, such as can only emanate
(in a country of constitutional law) from usurpation, tyranny and oppression.
Therefore, I,
Brigham Young, Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Territory
of Utah, in the name of the people or the United States in the Territory of
Utah,
First - Forbid all armed forces of
every description from coming into this Territory, under any pretense whatever.
Second - That all the forces in said
Territory hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's notice, to repel
any and all such invasion
Third - Martial law is hereby declared
to exist in this Territory, from and after the publication of this
Proclamation; and no person shall be allowed to pass or repass, into or
through, or from this Territory without a permit from the proper officer.
Given under my hand and seal at Great
Salt Lake City, Territory of Utah, this fifteenth day of September, A.D.
eighteen hundred and fifty seven, and of the Independence of the United States
of America, the eighty -second. (Young,
Brigham, 2)
“General Daniel H. Wells of the Nauvoo Legion sent about
eleven hundred men east to Echo Canyon, which lay on the route through the
mountains to Salt Lake City.”(CES)
“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)
The men in Echo Canyon drilled, and prepared defensive
fortifications. “The Nauvoo Legion - Utah's militia - took stock of its armaments,
drilled its units and began fortifying Echo Canyon, the army's presumed route
into the city.” (Parshall) Isaac would have been armed. In the cliffs there are fortifications built
of rock, and other defensive works:
These soldiers built wall and dug trenches
from which they could act as snipers.
They also loosened huge boulders that could easily be sent crashing down
on the moving columns, and they constructed ditches and dams that could be
opened to flood the enemy’s path. (CES)
The Narrows: Near here the Mormons built a huge breastwork and a 500-foot-long rifle pit
(across the freeway, near the base of the telephone pole line). They also put
land mines in this area, made from oak barrels, one-pound cans of powder, and
flintlocks. And they built a big dam here with plans to flood the Narrows and
make it difficult or impossible for the army to get through. Pretty tricky.
In
all, the Mormons built 14 fortifications in this canyon.
Death Rock: … Here the Mormons dug a trench 10’ deep and 7’ wide to
stop the troops’ progress. On the cliff just east of the speed limit sign, you
can spot four foot-tall rock wall fortifications. (Utah)
The
Echo Canyon Breastworks were constructed during the autumn of 1857 under the
direction of General Daniel H. Wells, commander of the Mormon Militia. They
were set atop high cliffs where they would provide the greatest strategic
advantage against possible attack by Johnston's Army during the Utah War
(1857-58). This 2500-man force was sent to the Territory by President James
Buchanan to silence what was perceived to be a rebellion by the Mormons. The
dry masonry walls, constructed of uncut stones, stacked in random courses
without mortar, were 1 to 2 feet above ground and 4 to 12 feet in length. These
fortifications stretched some 1.2 miles along the narrowest section of Echo
Canyon. These Breastworks were part of a larger defensive network that included
plans to dam the creek to force the troops against the canyon wall where the
breastworks are located, and large trenches across the canyon to impede the
passage of horses and men. More than 1200 men worked together completing the
Breastworks on the cliffs in the matter of a few weeks. However, the peaceful
resolution of the Utah War in the early summer of 1858 rendered the
fortifications unnecessary. (Summit County)
The "Echo Fortifications" or the
"Mormon Wall" was built in 1857 as a line of defense against the U.S.
Army led by General Albert S. Johnston, known as Johnston's Army…
Brigham Young sent men into Echo Canyon to
build a line of defense and the Nauvoo Legion was sent into Wyoming to ' harass
and delay" the army. During their harassment tactics, they set fire to and
burned Fort Supply. They drove off several of the horses and mules with the
army. Many more of the animals died during the severe winter. However, General
Johnston lost only one man, and that was from tetanus.
The fortifications were built along the
cliffs of Echo Canyon. Rock fortifications were built among the crevices and
dips of the cliffs. Then cedar trees were cut, the ends painted black to look
like the bore of a cannon, and placed over the top of the fortifications. At
night the men would march around large camp fires to make it seem that there
were more men present than there actually were. The extra guns and ammunition
were buried to prevent them from being exploded by accident or by enemy fire.
The cliffs gave the defenders the advantage of height and better protection. (Utah Travel Council)
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)
Isaac would have been assigned in help in
these projects. Very likely he was at
the end of a shovel. His experience in
the coal mines would have been useful.
The Echo Canyon Boys would have had their share of danger. There was at least one death. “The cliff
west of the fortifications is called Death Rock. Here a member of the Mormon
militia on the ground aimed his rifle at a friend on the cliff, thinking the
ball could never go that high. The ball hit his friend in the head, killing
him. (Utah) They also had their share of
cold, and would have been a reminder to Isaac of his harrowing experience from
the year before. They were dealing with
“heavy snowfall and intense cold.”
(Wikipedia)
While these preparations were taking place, a small band
of militia, went forward to harass and delay the approaching army:
Rather than engaging the enemy directly,
Mormon strategy was one of hindering and weakening them. Daniel H. Wells,
lieutenant-general of the Nauvoo legion, instructed Major Joseph Taylor:
On
ascertaining the locality or route of the troops, proceed at once to annoy them
in every possible way. Use every exertion to stampede their animals and set
fire to their trains. Burn the whole country before them and on their flanks.
Keep them from sleeping, by night surprises; blockade the road by felling trees
or destroying the river fords where you can. Watch for opportunities to set
fire to the grass on their windward, so as, if possible, to envelop their
trains. Leave no grass before them that can be burned. Keep your men concealed
as much as possible, and guard against surprise. (Wikipedia)
The women and those in
Utah were not without privations as a result of the men being away. “With their men in
the mountains, Mormon women went into the fields to bring in the heaviest
harvest Utah had ever known. (Parshall)
Similar to the handcart companies of the year before, of
which Isaac had been a part, the troops headed to Utah were facing serious
obstacles:
Those forces, assembled at Leavenworth,
Kan., set out for Utah with three major handicaps: First, the army was
essentially without a leader. Its original commander, Gen. William S. Harney,
had been reassigned to quell disturbances in Kansas. The army was under the
temporary command of Col. Edmund Alexander, an ineffectual man called "the
old woman" by his troops.
Second, the army was far below its 2,500-man
allotment. Desertions by those not anxious for a long wilderness march exceeded
even the army's "normal" high desertion rate.
And third, the army left the frontier far
too late to safely cross the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. Their
departure date of July 18 was even later than that of the ill-fated Willie
handcart company, whose Mormon pioneers suffered so cruelly on the plains of
Wyoming the year before. Disaster was almost inevitable. (ibid)
The Mormon riders
on the plains, did not make things easier for the approaching troops.
Mormon guerrillas on the Plains burned grass
for miles to weaken its [the army’s] horses, beef cattle and draft animals.
They burned the Mormon outposts of Fort Supply and Fort Bridger to deny the
army convenient shelter. They stampeded cattle and drove off horses and mules.
In one case, the army recalled their mules with a bugle signal, and the
returning animals brought Mormon mounts with them. In the iconic moment of the
Utah War, a band led by Lot Smith burned three federal trains - 78 wagons laden
with food and clothing for the army - after first allowing teamsters to remove
personal belongings. (ibid)
At Simpson’s Hollow, the militia captured
and burned 22 army supply wagons under the leadership of Capt. Lewis Simpson On
October 5. The destruction of this and
two other wagon trains carrying a total of 368,000 pounds of military supplies
and the onset of winter snows which closed the passes to Utah, forced the Army
to spend the winter at the recently burned Fort Bridger. By the spring of 1858, the federal government
and the Mormons had settled most of their differences and Alfred Cumming was
installed as territorial governor. (U.S.
Department of the Interior)
The troops suffered in these conditions. Horses died.
It wasn’t until new leadership arrived that conditions began to improve:
On Nov. 4, the army's new commander, Col.
Albert Sidney Johnston, finally reached his troops. He recognized instantly
that his weakened men could not force their way through Utah's mountains to
take Salt Lake City that season. Instead, he led them to winter quarters,
preparing for a spring campaign and waiting for reinforcements.
The crippled army then endured two weeks of
forced marches toward the blackened walls of Fort Bridger. More animals died of
hunger. A few men, on reduced rations, died of exposure before the army crossed
into Utah (which for several more years still included the southwest corner of
today's Wyoming), and built Camp Scott near old Fort Bridger. (Parshall)
Although they built Camp Scott, the situation was still
not good for the troops:
By November 1857 a
troop of eighteen hundred federal soldiers and camp followers were huddling
around the charred ruins of Fort Bridger, desperately trying to avoid
starvation until spring, when they could resume their campaign. Mormon raiders managed to burn three wagon trains
sent to supply the expedition, destroying three months’ provisions and bringing
federal troops to the brink of starvation.
Young added insult to injury by offering to provide the embattled U.S.
troops with salt, flour, and cattle.
(Arrington and Bitton)
Although they were no longer on the trail,
life was far from easy for the troops. The food was terrible and there wasn't
much of it. Lacking work animals, the men had to muscle sleds and wagons to
bring in firewood. Continued Mormon harassment required soldiers to stand
constant guard at lonely pickets far from their tents and fires.
Military drills continued throughout the
winter. … In their free time, the men gambled, drank and wrote letters
grumbling about conditions, or boasting about imaginary battles with Mormons,
or keeping a stiff upper lip for the sake of their families. (Parshall)
As for the Mormons, the situation was not quite so
anxious, at least for the rest of the winter:
On the Mormon side, a few men were assigned
to watch the federal encampment and report any unexpected movement. The rest of
the Nauvoo Legion returned home to care for their families and thresh the heavy
grain harvest. Salt Lake City was remarkably calm that winter, with the usual
round of parties, theatricals and church services. Except for regular militia
drills and the oft-expressed resolve not to submit again to the wrongs of
Missouri and Illinois, Utah showed no sign of a people at war with an army
encamped little more than 100 miles away." (ibid)
About this time, with the elements and
circumstances having stopped Johnston’s Army, many of the Mormon’s felt quite
comfortable. They felt secure that God
was on their side, and the elements and the mountains were evidence of this:
Strong in the power of Brigham's God,
Your name's a terror to our foes;
Ye were a barrier strong and broad
As our high mountains crowned with snows.
Sing!
fellow-soldiers in our cause,
For God will show his mighty hand:
Zion shall triumph, and her laws
The standard be to every land. (Mills,
W.G.)
A group of about 150 young men wintered in
Echo Canyon, and the rest returned home. None of the histories of Isaac give an
idea with which group he was. He was single, so would have been a good
candidate to stay the winter in the mountains.
With the army being forced to encamp, everyone was able
to take a second look at the reasons for war:
Public opinion in the East, which had at first supported
the Utah expedition, now turned sour. The press asked why military leaders had
not arranged to reinforce and resupply the beleaguered soldiers before real
suffering occurred. They demanded to know the total cost of the expedition.
Some who had urged the sending of an army in the spring were now asking why
Buchanan had not first sent an investigative commission to Utah.” (Parshall)
When Governor Cummings arrived on the scene, he felt his
appointment as governor was the most important thing, not that the Mormons be
punished, or defeated militarily. Thomas
Kane, a friend of the Mormons offered his services. “Kane offered to go
to Utah and negotiate a peaceful solution. While Buchanan gave Kane no official
commission and no public endorsement, he did offer lukewarm encouragement and
did nothing to prevent Kane's quixotic mission… Kane embarked on his voyage just as 1858
began, traveling by ship to Panama and by wagon across the isthmus, then by
ship to California and by horseback to Utah, arriving in Salt Lake City on Feb.
24.” (Parshall)
Buchanan’s position started to mellow:
…The official position emanating from Washington had already begun to
change. Through Colonel Thomas L. Kane,
Young had initiated peace feelers. While
Kane was sailing to California to mediate between Governor Cumming, Young, and
Colonel Johnston, Buchanan dispatched a presidential peace commission overland,
an action motivated mainly by congressional unrest over the vast amount of
money and manpower being used to provision and reinforce the Utah
Expedition. Both Young and Buchanan,
therefore, now sought a peaceful settlement.
(See Arrington and Bitton)
While negotiations were still in process, Young decided
on a dramatic gesture. This was a
decision to “move South,” to abandon the entire northern sweep of the territory
to the army, leaving men behind with instructions to set fire to any settlement
the soldiers made moves to occupy. Hosea
Stout recorded the decision in his diary:
Thursday 18 March 1858: Attended a general
Council at the Historians office of the first Presidency, Twelve, and officers
of the Legion. The object which was to
take into consideration the enemies, whether to attack them before they came
near us or wait until they come near, or whether it is yet best to fight only in
unavoidable defense or in case a large force is sent against us this spring
whether to fight or burn our houses and destroy everything in and around us and
flee to the mountains and deserts.
It appears that the course pursued
hitherto by Gov Young in baffling the oppressive purposes of Prest Buchanan has
redounded to the honor of Gov Young and the Saints and equally to the disgrace
of the President & his cabinet. Mormonism
is on the ascendancy and now what is the best policy to maintain that
ascendency. If we whip out and use up the few troops at Bridger will not the
excitement and sympathy which is now raising in our favor in the states, be
turned against us. Whereas if we only
annoy and impede their progress while we "Burn up" and flee, the
folly, and meanness of the President will be the more apparent and he and his
measures more unpopular &c. This was
about a fair statement of the subject matter in council. There was no definite measures adopted. Many spoke on the subject and the council
adjourned till 8th April at 2 p.m. at the Tabernacle.
Sunday 21 March 1858. Attended meeting at the Tabernacle which meeting was resolved into a
special Conference for the transaction of business.
The subject matter was "fleeing to the" deserts and mountains. It was decided to send 500 families from this
city immediately to be selected from among those who had never been driven from
their homes and from that class to take the poorest and most helpless. This 500 was to be selected by the Bishops
from the several wards.
The plan of Emigration being thus established in this city was to be an
ensample other cities, wards and settlements throughout the Territory; North
more particularly. The precise
destination was not made known as yet.
(Stout)
Brigham Young was attempting to play on the sympathies of
the American public. Adopting the
“Sebastopol plan,” which had served a similar purpose during the Crimean War. Young was attempting to muster some national
sympathy while demonstrating that the Mormons were not willing to submit to a
blatant military occupation of their homes.
Throughout the spring the Mormons streamed south to temporary
encampments near Provo and farther south.”
(Arrington and Bitton)
As spring came on, the defensive positions in Echo Canyon
were retaken. Hosea Stout recorded,
“Wednesday 31 March 1858, 500 troops that is 400 foot and 100 Horse are
being sent to Echo again to meet the emergency which may arise.” (Stout)
Isaac did not have a horse, nor history riding, so would have been on
foot:
As the spring thaw
began in 1858, Johnston prepared to receive reinforcements that would bring his
force to almost 5,000—a third of the entire U.S. Army. At the same time, Young
initiated what has become known as the Move South, an exodus of some 30,000
people from settlements in northern Utah. Before leaving Salt Lake City,
Mormons buried the foundation of their temple, their most sacred building, and
planted wheat to camouflage it from the invaders' eyes. A few men remained
behind, ready to put houses and barns and orchards to the torch to keep them
out of the soldiers' hands. The Mormons, it seemed, would be exterminated or
once again driven from their land.
(Roberts 2)
Of note is that several Mormons were among General
Johnston’s force of 5000. Among these
was William Ashton, who would later become Isaac’s father-in-law. He had enlisted in the infantry at Fort
Laramie. He was held in reserve, and
eventually bypassed Salt Lake being ordered to California.
Meanwhile, Governor Cumming made a trip to the Salt lake
Valley, assured himself there was no rebellion, and returned to Camp Scott, the
bivouac at Fort Bridger. (Arrington and
Bitton) When he visited the valley, he
saw the first of the move south:
Cumming arrived just in time to witness the
most dramatic episode of the Utah War: Faced with the knowledge that the army
would inevitably enter the settlements in the spring, the Mormons withdrew from
Salt Lake City and all northern towns, taking refuge in Provo and other points
south.
Cumming was greeted by the sight of
families, with their household goods piled on wagons and their livestock
trailing behind, fleeing southward. All the stored wheat, all the church
records, the benches from the tabernacle, the Deseret News press, and
the doors and windows from all of the houses, along with every other
salvageable article, had been cached or sent south. (Parshall)
In April, agreement was reached that the expedition would
be allowed to march through Salt Lake City and establish a position some forty
miles distant from which it could ensure the rights of the presidential
appointees without seeming to “occupy Mormon territory.” In June, after announcing that Buchanan had
granted the Mormons “free and full pardon,” the new territorial officers and an
escort of more than fifty-five hundred soldiers, teamsters, and suppliers
marched through the abandoned streets of Salt Lake City. To the south, some thirty thousand Mormon
faithful waited, fearful that their homes might be either occupied or
destroyed. Nothing of the kind
occurred. The Utah Expedition marched
beyond the city and across the Jordan River to Cedar Valley, some forty miles
south of Salt Lake City. There they
established Camp Floyd, named in honor of the Secretary of War who had
supported the mission.
However, by the time the peace was in place, and the army
marched through Salt Lake, the population had moved south:
That same month, Johnston and his troops
marched through the deserted streets of Salt Lake City—then kept marching 40
miles south to establish Camp Floyd, in present-day Fairfield, Utah. With the
Army no longer a threat, the Mormons returned to their homes and began a long
and fitful accommodation to secular rule under a series of non-Mormon
governors. (Roberts 2)
By the time Buchanan's official peace
commissioners arrived in Utah with power to negotiate a settlement and bearing
a pardon for actions committed by Utah's defenders, the move south was
complete. The army entered Salt Lake Valley on June 26, 1858, to find an eerily
deserted city. A few men watched from behind empty buildings, ready to burn the
city if one soldier broke ranks to steal so much as a single peach from a
Mormon orchard.
It took hours for the army to march through,
strung out as they were along the road, but Johnston had drilled and
disciplined the troops so well that they passed without incident, first to camp
near the Jordan River and eventually to build Camp Floyd west of Utah Lake.
The displaced Mormons returned to their
homes by the end of July 1858. Aside from some verbal sparring and a few rowdy
incidents between soldiers and civilians - generally minor, but including one
murder - Mormon settlers and their military neighbors tended to ignore one
another. (Parshall)
The peaceable
march of the army through Salt Lake City, the unopposed installation of Cumming
as governor, and the subsequent return of the Mormons to their abandoned farms
and homes ended a confrontation that had been heralded as apocalyptic but had
always had something of the incongruity of comic opera. The President of the United States had
dispatched the largest peacetime army in the nation’s history to oversee the
installation of half a dozen officials in a minor territory. He had done so without thorough investigation
of charges made by a few disgruntled or economically interested
individuals. He had neglected to notify
the Mormons or to inquire after their viewpoint, until nearly a year after the
expedition was sent. The Mormons, in
turn, had once more been uprooted from their homes, interrupted in their
development of the territory, and labeled a rebellious people. (Stout from Arrington and Bitton)
It was miraculous that the Utah Expedition did not end in
a bloodbath. Unleashing military force
is always easier than restraining it, and for the Mormons to attempt harassment
of the invaders and destruction of supply trains while avoiding the taking of
life and open battles was, on the face of it, a delicate combination that would
not seem to have much chance of success.
Yet there were practically no casualties except from frostbite and
exposure. (Arrington and Bitton)
David Robert provides this summary from the New York Herald
June 19, 1858, “Killed, none; wounded, none; fooled, everybody.” (Roberts 2)
“Although there were only minor skirmishes
between scouting parties, the war was not the bloodless farce of popular
perception. Men froze to death, died of disease, were shot and hanged and
bludgeoned in little-known atrocities. The hardships of war also affected
Mormon women, children and the elderly.” (Parshall)
