Utah War
Encyclopedia
The Utah War, also known as the Utah Expedition, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between LDS settlers in the Utah Territory
and the armed forces of the United States government. The confrontation lasted from May 1857 until July 1858. While there were casualties, mostly non-Mormon civilians, the "war" had no battles, and was resolved through negotiation.
administration sought to quell a supposed rebellion in Utah Territory by Mormon settlers. He sent US forces there, in what was known as the Utah Expedition. The Mormons, fearful that the large US military force had been sent to annihilate them, made preparations for defense. Though bloodshed was to be avoided, and the U.S. government also hoped that its purpose might be attained without the loss of life, preparations were made for war. Fire-arms were manufactured or repaired by the Mormons, scythes were turned into bayonets, and long-unused sabres were burnished and sharpened.
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." The Mormons blocked the army's entrance into the Salt Lake Valley
, and weakened the U.S. Army
by hindering them from receiving provisions.
However, while the confrontation between the Mormon militia, called the Nauvoo Legion and the U.S. Army involved some destruction of property and a few brief skirmishes in what is today southwestern Wyoming
, no actual battles occurred between the contending military forces.
Despite this, the confrontation was not bloodless. At the height of the tensions, on September 11, 1857, more than 120 California-bound settlers from Arkansas
, Missouri
and other states, including unarmed men, women and children, were killed in remote southwestern Utah by a group of local Mormon militiamen. They first claimed that the migrants were killed by Native Americans
. This event was later called the Mountain Meadows massacre
and the motives behind the incident remain a mystery.
The "Aiken Massacre" took place the following month. In October 1857, Mormons arrested six Californians traveling through Utah and charged them with being spies for the US Army. They were released, but later murdered and robbed of their stock and $25,000. Other incidents of violence have also been linked to the Utah War, including an Indian attack on the Latter-day Saint mission of Fort Limhi in eastern Oregon Territory
. They killed two Mormons and wounded several others. The historian Brigham Madsen notes, "[T]he responsibility for the [Fort Limhi raid] lay mainly with the Bannock
." David Bigler concludes that the raid was probably instigated by members of the Utah Expedition who were trying to replenish their stores of livestock which had been stolen by Mormon raiders.
Taking all incidents into account, MacKinnon estimates that approximately 150 people died as a direct result of the year-long Utah War, including the 120 migrants killed at Mountain Meadows. He points out that this was close to the number of people killed during the seven-year contemporaneous struggle in "Bleeding Kansas
."
In the end, negotiations between the United States and the Latter-day Saints resulted in a full pardon for the Mormons, the transfer of Utah's governorship from church President Brigham Young
to non-Mormon Alfred Cumming
, and the peaceful entrance of the US Army into Utah.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), often called Mormon pioneers, began settling in what is now Utah
in the summer of 1847. Mormon pioneers began leaving the United States for Utah after a series of severe conflicts
with neighboring communities in Missouri
and Illinois
, resulted in the death of Joseph Smith, Jr.
, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement
.
Brigham Young and other LDS Church leaders believed that the remoteness of Utah would secure the rights of Latter-day Saints, and ensure the free practice of their religion. Although the United States had gained control
of the settled parts of Alta California
and Nuevo México
in 1846 in the early stages of the Mexican-American War, legal transfer of the Mexican Cession
to the U.S. came only with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
ending the war in 1848. LDS Church leaders understood that they were not "leaving the political orbit of the United States", nor did they want to. When gold was discovered in California, in 1848 at Sutter's Mill
, which sparked the famous California Gold Rush
, thousands of immigrants began moving west on trails that passed directly through territory settled by Mormon pioneers. Although the immigrants brought opportunities for trade, it also ended the Mormons' short-lived isolation.
In 1849, the Mormons proposed that a large part of the territory which they inhabited be incorporated into the United States as the State of Deseret
. Their primary concern was to be governed by men of their own choosing rather than "unsympathetic carpetbag appointees" whom they believed would be sent from Washington, D.C. if their region were given territorial status, as was customary. They believed that only through a state run by church leadership could they maintain their religious freedom. The US Congress created the Utah Territory as part of the Compromise of 1850
. President Millard Fillmore
selected Brigham Young
, President of the LDS Church, as the first governor of the Territory. The Mormons were pleased by the appointment, but gradually the amicable relationship between Mormons and the federal government broke down.
or "plural marriage
." It is estimated that 20% to 25% of Latter-day Saints were members of polygamous households with the practice involving approximately one third of Mormon women who reached marriageable age. The LDS leadership viewed plural marriage as a religious sacrament.
However, the rest of American society rejected polygamy with some even accusing the Mormons of gross immorality. During the Presidential Election of 1856 a key plank of the newly formed Republican Party
's platform
was a pledge "to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism: polygamy and slavery." The Republicans linked the Democratic principle of popular sovereignty
to the acceptance of polygamy in Utah, and turned this accusation into a formidable political weapon.
Popular sovereignty was the theoretical basis of the Compromise of 1850
and the Kansas-Nebraska Act
of 1854. This concept was meant to remove the divisive issue of slavery in the Territories from national debate, forestalling armed conflict between the North and South. But during the campaign, the Republican Party denounced the theory as protecting polygamy. Leading Democrats such as Stephen A. Douglas
, formerly an ally of the Latter-day Saints, began to denounce Mormonism to save the concept of popular sovereignty. The Democrats believed that American attitudes toward polygamy had the potential of derailing the compromise on slavery
. For the Democrats, attacks on Mormonism therefore had the dual purpose of disentangling polygamy from popular sovereignty, and distracting the nation from the ongoing battles over slavery.
dominance of the Utah Territory under Brigham Young
. Young had been appointed territorial Governor under Millard Fillmore
. While Mormons believe in most principles of classical liberalism
found in the U.S. Constitution, Mormon political thought continues to be influenced by a concept dubbed "Theodemocracy
." Early Mormon pioneers, especially, associated it with the imminence of Christ's Second Coming
. This belief often led Mormon pioneers to elect ecclesiastical leaders to political office.
In addition to popular election, many early LDS Church leaders received quasi-political administrative appointments at both the territorial and federal level, that coincided with their ecclesiastical roles; in particular were the powerful probate judges. As the U.S. Constitution outlines, these executive and judicial appointments were confirmed by the Territorial Legislature, which largely consisted of popularly elected Latter-day Saints. Additionally, LDS Church leaders counseled Latter-day Saints to use ecclesiastical arbitration
to resolve disputes amongst church members before resorting to the more explicit legal system. Both Pres. Buchanan and the U.S. Congress saw these acts as obstructing, if not subverting, the operation of legitimate institutions of the United States.
Numerous newspaper articles continued to sensationalize Mormon beliefs and exaggerated earlier accounts of conflicts with frontier settlers. These stories led many Americans to believe that Mormon leaders were petty tyrants and that Mormons were determined to create a Zionist, polygamous kingdom in the newly acquired territories.
Many felt that these sensationalized beliefs, along with early communitarian practices of the United Order
, also violated the principles of republicanism
as well as the philosophy of laissez-faire
economics. James Strang
, a rival to Brigham Young and a LDS Church dissident, elevated these fears by proclaiming himself a king and resettled his followers on Beaver Island (Lake Michigan)
, after the main body of the LDS Church had fled to Utah.
People also believed that Brigham Young maintained power through a paramilitary organization called the Danites. The Danites were created by some Latter-day Saints in Missouri in 1838. Most scholars believe that following the end of the Mormon War in the winter of 1838, the unit was partially disbanded. These factors contributed to the popular belief that Mormons "were oppressed by a religious tyranny and kept in submission only by some terroristic arm of the Church...[However] no Danite band could have restrained the flight of freedom-loving men from a Territory possessed of many exits; yet a flood of emigrants poured into Utah each year, with only a trickle...ebbing back."
These circumstances were not helped by the relationship between "Gentile"(non-Mormon) federal appointees and the Mormon territorial leadership. The territory's Organic Act
held that the governor, federal judges, and other important territorial positions were to be filled by appointees chosen by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, but without any reference to the will of Utah's population—as was standard for all territorial administration.
Some federal officials sent by the President maintained essentially harmonious relationships with the Latter-day Saints. For instance, from 1853–1855, the territorial supreme court was composed of two non-Mormons and one Mormon. However, both of these non-Mormons were well respected in the Latter-day Saint community, and were genuinely mourned upon their deaths. Others had severe difficulties adjusting to the Mormon-dominated territorial government and the unique Mormon culture. Historian Norman Furniss relates that although some of these appointees were basically honest and well-meaning, many were highly prejudiced against the Mormons even before they arrived in the territory, were woefully unqualified for their positions, and some were down-right reprobate.
On the other hand, the Latter-day Saints had no patience for the federal domination entailed in territorial status, and often showed defiance towards the representatives of the federal government. In addition, while the Saints sincerely declared their loyalty to the United States and celebrated the Fourth of July every year with unabashed patriotism, they were undisguisedly critical of the federal government, which they felt had driven them out from their homes in the east. Like the contemporary Abolitionists
, Latter-day Saint leaders declared that the judgments of God would be meted out upon the nation for its unrighteousness. Brigham Young echoed the opinion of many Latter-day Saints when he declared "I love the government and the Constitution of the United States, but I do not love the damned rascals that administer the government."
The Mormons also maintained a governmental and legal regime in "Zion," which they believed was perfectly permissible under the Constitution, but which was fundamentally different from that espoused in the rest of the country.
Thus, relations with the Native Americans
who often differentiated between "Americans" and "Mormons", acceptance of the common law
, the criminal jurisdiction of probate courts, the Mormon use of ecclesiastical courts rather than the federal court system for civil matters, the legitimacy of land titles, water rights, and various other issues were a source of continual dispute between the Latter-day Saints and federal appointees in the Territory. Many of these officers were also appalled by the practice of polygamy and the Mormon belief system in general, and would harangue the Mormons for their "lack of morality" in public addresses. This already tense situation was further exacerbated by a period of intense religious revival starting in late 1856 dubbed the "Mormon Reformation
."
Beginning in 1851, a number of federal officers, some claiming that they feared for their physical safety, left their Utah appointments for the east. The stories of these "Runaway Officials
" convinced the new President that the Mormons were nearing a state of rebellion against the authority of the United States. According to LDS historians James B. Allen
and Glen M. Leonard
, the most influential information came from William W. Drummond, an associate justice of the Utah territorial supreme court who began serving in 1854. Drummond's letter of resignation of March 30, 1857 contained charges that Young's power set aside the rule of law in the territory, that the Mormons had ignored the laws of Congress and the Constitution, and that male Mormons acknowledged no law but the priesthood.
This account was further supported by Territorial Chief Justice Kinney in reports to Washington, where he recited examples of what he believed to be Brigham Young's perversion of Utah's judicial system and further urged his removal from office and the establishment of a one-regiment U.S. Army garrison in the territory. There were further charges of treason, battery, theft, and fraud made by other officials including Federal Surveyors, and Federal Indian Agents. Furniss states that most federal reports from Utah to Washington "left unclear whether the [Mormons] habitually kicked their dogs; otherwise their calendar of infamy in Utah was complete."
As early as 1852, Dr. John M. Bernhisel, Utah's Mormon delegate to Congress, had suggested that an impartial committee be sent to investigate the actual conditions in the territory. This call for an investigation was renewed during the crisis of 1857 by Bernhisel and even by Senator Stephen A. Douglas
. However, the President would not wait. Under massive popular and political pressure, President Buchanan decided to take decisive action against the Mormons soon after his inauguration on March 4, 1857.
President Buchanan first decided to appoint a new governor in place of Brigham Young. The position was offered to several individuals who refused, and the President finally settled on Alfred Cumming
during the summer. While Young became aware of the change in territorial administration through press reports and other sources, he received no official notification of his replacement until Cumming arrived in the Territory in November 1857. Buchanan also decided to send a force of 2,500 army troops to build a post in Utah and to act as a posse comitatus
once the new governor had been installed. They were ordered not to take offensive action against the Mormons, but to enter the territory, enforce the laws under the direction of the new governor, and defend themselves if attacked. This use of military force frightened the Mormons and lurid accounts in the Eastern newspapers gave the Mormons reason to expect the worst.
, the first soldiers did not leave Fort Leavenworth
, Kansas until July 18, 1857. The troops were originally to be led by Gen. William S. Harney
. However, affairs in "Bleeding Kansas
" forced Harney to remain behind to deal with skirmishes between pro-slavery and free-soiler
militants. The Expedition's cavalry, the 2nd Dragoons, was kept in Kansas for the same reason. Because of Harney's unavailability, Col. Edmund Alexander was charged with the first detachment of troops headed for Utah. However, overall command was assigned to Col. Albert Sidney Johnston
who did not leave Kansas until much later. As it was, July was already far into the campaigning season, and the army and their supply train were unprepared for winter in the Rocky Mountains. The army was not given instructions on how to react in case of resistance.
The Mormons' lack of information on the army's mission created apprehension and led to their making defensive preparations. While rumors spread during the spring that an army was coming to Utah and that Brigham Young had been replaced as governor, this was not confirmed until late July. Mormon mail contractors, including Porter Rockwell
and Abraham O. Smoot
, received word in Missouri that their contract was canceled and that the Army was on the move. The men quickly returned to Salt Lake City and notified Brigham Young that U.S. Army units were marching on the Mormons. Young announced the approach of the army to a large group of Latter-day Saints gathered in Big Cottonwood Canyon
for Pioneer Day celebrations on July 24, 1857.
Young firmly believed that God controlled the acts of men, including who the President chose to be governor of Utah. Although Young's secular position simplified his administration of the Territory, he believed his religious authority was more important among a nearly homogeneous population of Mormons. Young and the Mormon community feared renewed persecution and possibly annihilation by a large body of federal troops. Mormons remembered previous conflicts when they had lived near numerous non-Mormons. In 1838 they had been driven from Missouri into Illinois by direction of the governor after numerous complaints and a failure to abide by Missouri state law. Mormons state of mind was further alarmed when they learned in late June 1857 that LDS Apostle Parley P. Pratt
had recently been murdered while serving a mission in Arkansas.
Fearing the worst, Young ordered residents throughout Utah territory to prepare for evacuation, making plans to burn their homes and property and to stockpile food and stock feed. Guns were manufactured and ammunition was cast. Mormon colonists in small outlying communities in the Carson Valley
and San Bernardino, California
were ordered to leave their homes to consolidate with the main body of Latter-day Saints in Northern and Central Utah. All LDS missionaries serving in the United States and Europe were recalled. Young also sent George A. Smith
to the settlements of southern Utah to prepare them for action. Young's strategies to defend the Saints vacillated between all-out war, a more limited confrontation, and retreat.
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An alliance with the Native Americans was central to Young's strategy for war, although the relationship between the Mormons and Utah's native inhabitants had been strained since the settlers' arrival in 1847. Young had generally adopted a policy of conversion and conciliation towards native tribes. Some Mormon leaders encouraged intermarriage with the Native Americans so that the two peoples might "unite together" and their "interests become one."
On August 30 and September 1, Young met with Native American delegations and "gave" them permission to take all of the livestock then on the northern and southern trails into California (the Fancher Party was at that time on the southern trail). This meeting may have been Young's attempt to get Native Americans to support the Mormons against the United States and refrain from raids against Mormon settlements. In sermons on August 16, and again one month later, Young publicly urged the emigrant wagon trains to keep away from the Territory. Despite Young's efforts, Native Americans attacked Mormon settlements during the course of the Utah War, including a raid on Fort Limhi on the Salmon River
in Oregon Territory
in February 1858 and attacks in Tooele County just west of Great Salt Lake City.
In early August, Young re-activated the Nauvoo Legion
. This was the Mormon militia created during the conflict in Illinois. The Navoo Legion was under the command of Daniel H. Wells
and consisted of all able-bodied men between 15 and 60. Young ordered the Legion to take delaying actions, essentially harassing federal troops. He planned to buy time for the Mormon settlements to prepare for either battle or evacuation, and create a window for negotiations with the Buchanan Administration. Thus, in mid-August, militia Colonel Robert T. Burton
and a reconnaissance unit were sent east from Salt Lake City with orders to observe the oncoming American regiments and protect LDS emigrants traveling on the Mormon trail
.
, an assistant quartermaster, and a small escort were ordered to proceed directly from Kansas to Salt Lake City, ahead of the main body of troops. Van Vliet carried a letter to Young from General Harney ordering Young to make arrangements for the citizens of Utah to accommodate and supply the troops once they arrived. However, Harney's letter did not mention that Young had been replaced as governor, nor did it detail what the mission of the troops would be once they arrived and these omissions sparked even greater distrust among the Saints. On his journey, reports reached Van Vliet that his company might be in danger from Mormon raiders on the trail. The Captain therefore left his escort and proceeded alone.
Van Vliet arrived in Salt Lake City on September 8. Historian Harold Schindler
states that his mission was to contact Governor Young and inform him of the expedition's mission: to escort the new appointees, to act as a posse comitatus
and to establish at least two and perhaps three new U.S. Army camps in Utah. Conversing with Van Vliet, Young denied complicity in the destruction of the law offices of U.S. Federal Judge Stiles and expressed concern that he (Young) might suffer the same fate as the previous Mormon leader, Joseph Smith, to which Van Vliet replied, "I do not think it is the intention of the government to arrest you," said Van Vliet, "but to install a new governor of the territory". Van Vliet's instructions were to buy provisions for the troops and to inform the people of Utah that the troops would only be employed as a posse comitatus when called on by the civil authority to aid in the execution of the laws.
Van Vliet's arrival in Salt Lake City was welcomed cautiously by the Mormon leadership. Van Vliet had been previously known by the Latter-day Saints in Iowa, and they trusted and respected him. However, he found the residents of Utah determined to defend themselves. He interviewed leaders and townspeople and "...attended Sunday services, heard emotional speeches, and saw the Saints raise their hands in a unanimous resolution to guard against any 'invader.'" Van Vliet found it impossible to persuade resentful Mormon leaders that the Army had peaceful intentions. He quickly recognized that supplies or accommodations for the Army would not be forthcoming. But Young told Van Vliet that the Mormons did not desire war, and "if we can keep the peace for this winter I do think there will be something turned up that may save the shedding of blood." However, marking a change from earlier pronouncements, Young declared that under threat from an approaching army he would not allow the new governor and federal officers to enter Utah. Nevertheless, Van Vliet told Young that he believed that the Mormons "have been lied about the worst of any people I ever saw." He promised to stop the Utah Expedition on his own authority, and on September 14 he returned east through the Mormon fortifications then being built in Echo Canyon (see below).
Upon returning to the main body of the army, Van Vliet reported that the Latter-day Saints would not resort to actual hostilities, but would seek to delay the troops in every way possible. He also reported that they were ready to burn their homes and destroy their crops, and that the route through Echo Canyon would be a death trap for a large body of troops. Van Vliet continued on to Washington, D.C. in company with Dr. John M. Bernhisel, Utah Territory's delegate to Congress. There, Van Vliet reported on the situation in the west and became an advocate for the Latter-day Saints and the end of the Utah War.
As early as August 5, 1857 Young had decided to declare martial law
throughout the Territory and a document was printed to that effect. However, historians question the intent of this proclamation as it was never widely circulated, if at all, and while copies of the document exist, there is no mention of it in any contemporary sources. One commentary opines that "during most of August the Mormon leaders had not precisely focused on a strategy for dealing with the approaching army; and after the first proclamation was struck off, they likely had second thoughts about a direct confrontation with the federal government. On August 29, Brigham Young instructed Daniel H. Wells to draft a second proclamation of martial law."
On September 15, the day after Van Vliet left Salt Lake City, Young publicly declared martial law in Utah with a document almost identical to that printed in early August. This second proclamation received wide circulation throughout the Territory and was delivered by messenger to Col. Alexander with the approaching army. The most important provision forbade "all armed forces of every description from coming into this Territory, under any pretense whatsoever." It also commanded 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." But more important to California and Oregon bound travelers was the third section that stated "Martial law is hereby declared to exist in this Territory...and no person shall be allowed to pass or repass into, through or from this territory without a permit from the proper officer."
The Nauvoo Legion finally made contact with federal troops in late September just west of South Pass
. The militia immediately began to burn grass along the trail and stampede the army's cattle. In early October, Legion members burned down Fort Bridger
lest it fall into the hands of the army. A few days later, three large Army supply trains that were trailing the main army detachments were burned by Mormon cavalry led by Lot Smith
. Associated horses and cattle were "liberated" from the supply trains and taken west by the militia. Few if any shots were fired in these exchanges, and the Army's lack of cavalry left them more or less open to Mormon raids. However, prisoners were captured by both sides, and the army began to grow weary of the constant Mormon harassment throughout the fall. At one point, Colonel Alexander mounted roughly 100 men on army mules to combat the Mormon militia. In the early morning of October 15, this "jackass cavalry" had a run-in with Lot Smith's command and fired over 30 bullets at the Mormons from 150 yards. No one was killed, but one Mormon took a bullet through his hat band, and one horse was grazed. In addition, through October and November, between 1,200 and 2,000 militiamen were stationed in Echo Canyon and Weber Canyon. These two narrow passes lead into the Salt Lake Valley, and provided the easiest access to the populated areas of northern Utah. Dealing with a heavy snowfall and intense cold, the Mormon men built fortifications, dug rifle pits and dammed streams and rivers in preparation for a possible battle either that fall or the following spring. Several thousand more militiamen prepared their families for evacuation and underwent military training.
Colonel Alexander, whom his troops called "old granny", decided not to enter Utah through Echo Canyon due to Van Vliet's report, news of the Mormon fortifications and a propaganda campaign by Brigham Young. But determined to fulfill his orders to enter the Territory, he decided to move around the Mormon defenses and enter Utah from the north along the Bear River
. However, Alexander's force was stopped by a heavy blizzard in late October. Colonel Johnston took command of the combined U.S. forces in early November, but by this time the command was hampered by a lack of supplies, animals, and the early onset of winter. Johnston was a more aggressive commander than Alexander but this predicament rendered him unable to immediately attack through Echo Canyon into Utah. Instead, he settled his troops into ill-equipped winter camps designated Camp Scott and Eckelsville, near the burned-out remains of Fort Bridger
, now in the state of Wyoming. Johnston was soon joined by the 2nd Dragoons commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
Philip St. George Cooke
, who had accompanied Alfred Cumming
, Utah's new governor, and a roster of other federal officials from Fort Leavenworth. However, they too were critically short of horses and supplies. On November 21, Cumming sent a proclamation to the citizens of Utah declaring them to be in rebellion, and soon after, a grand jury
was formed at Camp Scott, which indicted two Mormon prisoners, Brigham Young, and over sixty other members of the Mormon hierarchy for treason
. Johnston awaited resupply and reinforcement and prepared to attack the Mormon positions after the spring thaw.
Fortunately, the lull in hostilities during the winter provided an opportunity for negotiations, and direct confrontation was avoided. As early as August 1857, Brigham Young had written to Thomas L. Kane
of Pennsylvania asking for help. Kane was a man of some political prominence who had been helpful to the Mormons in their westward migration and later political controversies. In December, Kane contacted President Buchanan and offered to mediate between the Mormons and the federal government. In Buchanan's State of the Union
address earlier in the month, he had taken a hard stand against the Mormon rebellion, and had actually asked Congress to enlarge the size of the regular army to deal with the crisis. However, in his conversation with Kane, Buchanan worried that the Mormons might destroy Johnston's Army at severe political cost to himself, and stated that he would pardon the Latter-day Saints for their actions if they would submit to government authority. He therefore granted Kane unofficial permission to attempt mediation, although he held little hope for the success of negotiations. Upon approval of his mission by the President, Kane immediately started for Utah. During the heavy winter of 1857-1858, he traveled under the alias "Dr. Osborne" over 3,000+ miles from the East coast to Utah, first by ship to Panama
, crossing the isthmus via the newly constructed (1855) Panama Railway
, and then taking a second ship to San Francisco. Upon learning that the Sierra passes were blocked for the winter, he immediately took a ship to San Pedro, the unimproved harbor for what is now Los Angeles. He was met there by Mormons who took him overland through San Bernardino and Las Vegas, to Salt Lake City on the strenuous southern branch of the California Trail
, arriving in February 1858.
Details of the negotiations between Kane and Young are unfortunately unclear. It seems that Kane successfully convinced Young to accept Buchanan's appointment of Cumming as Territorial governor, although Young had expressed his willingness to accept such terms at the very beginning of the crisis. It is uncertain if Kane was able to convince Young at this time to allow the army into Utah. However, in early March Kane traveled to the Johnston's winter base at Fort Bridger. Although his relationship with Colonel Johnston was poor, he eventually persuaded Governor Cumming to travel to Salt Lake City without his military escort under guarantee of safe conduct. As they descended Echo Canyon to Salt Lake city, Kane and the Mormon militia men successfully fooled Cumming as to the size of the armed contingent lining the canyon, something of which Cumming later complained bitterly. Cumming was courteously received by Young and the Utah citizenry in mid-April, and was shortly installed in his new office. Cumming thereafter became a moderate voice, and opposed the hard-line against the Mormons proposed by Colonel Johnston and other federal officials still at Camp Scott. Kane left Utah Territory for Washington, D.C. in May to report to President Buchanan on the results of his mission.
Despite Thomas Kane's successful mission, tension continued throughout the spring and summer of 1858. Young was willing to support Cumming as governor, but he still feared persecution and violence if the army entered Utah. Indeed, as the snows melted, approximately 3,000 additional U.S. Army reinforcements set out on the westward trails to resupply and strengthen the Army's presence. In Utah, the Nauvoo Legion was bolstered as Mormon communities were asked to supply and equip an additional thousand volunteers to be placed in the over one hundred miles of mountains that separated Camp Scott and Great Salt Lake City. Nevertheless, by the end of the winter Young had decided to enforce his "Sevastopol Policy", a plan to evacuate the Territory and burn it to the ground rather than fight the army openly. Members of the Hudson's Bay Company
and the British government feared that the Mormons planned to seek refuge on Vancouver Island
off the coast of British Columbia. David Bigler has shown that Young originally intended this evacuation to go northwards towards the Bitterroot Valley
in present day Montana. However, the Bannock
and Shoshone
raid against Fort Limhi in February 1858 blocked this northern retreat. Consequently, at the end of March 1858, settlers in the northern counties of Utah including Salt Lake City boarded up their homes and farms and began to move south, leaving small groups of men and boys behind to burn the settlements if necessary. As early as February 1858, Young had sent parties to explore the White Mountains on what is now the Utah/Nevada
border where, he erroneously believed, there were valleys that could comfortably harbor up to 100,000 individuals. Residents of Utah County just south of Salt Lake were asked to build and maintain roads and to help the incoming inhabitants of the northern communities. Mormon Elias Blackburn recorded in his journal, The roads are crowded with the Saints moving south. ...Very busy dealing out provisions to the public hands. I am feeding 100 men, all hard at work. Even after Alfred Cumming was installed as governor in mid-April, the "Move South" continued unabated. The movement may have included the relocation of nearly 30,000 people between March and July. Historians Allen and Leonard write:
In the meantime, President Buchanan had come under considerable pressure from Congress to end the crisis. In February 1858, Senator Sam Houston
of Texas stated that a war against the Mormons would be
On April 1, Senator Simon Cameron
of Pennsylvania declared that he would support a bill to authorize volunteers to fight in Utah and other parts of the frontier only because
Therefore in April, the President sent an official peace commission to Utah consisting of Benjamin McCulloch
and Lazarus Powell, which arrived in June. The commission offered a free pardon to the Mormons for any acts incident to the conflict if they would submit to government authority. This included permitting Johnston's Army into the Territory. The commissioners further assured that the government would not interfere with their religion. They also hinted that once the new governor was installed and the laws yielded to, "a necessity will no longer exist to retain any portion of the army in the Territory, except what may be required to keep the Indians in check and to secure the passage of emigrants to California." While all these private assurances were inducements for the Latter-day Saints to bend to federal will, Buchanan maintained a tougher stance in his public statements.
Brigham Young accepted Buchanan's terms and pardon, although he denied Utah had ever rebelled against the United States. Buchanan's proclamation was also unpopular among the Mormon rank and file. Arthur P. Welchman, a member of a company of missionaries that was recalled due to the war, wrote of the document:
On June 19, a newly arrived reporter for the New York Herald
somewhat inaccurately wrote, "Thus was peace made - thus was ended the 'Mormon war', which...may be thus historisized: - Killed, none; wounded, none; fooled, everybody." At the end of June 1858 the Army troops under General Johnston entered the Salt Lake Valley unhindered. Riding through the still empty streets of Salt Lake City on June 26, an embittered Johnston was heard to say that he would have given "his plantation for a chance to bombard the city for fifteen minutes." Lt. Col. Charles Ferguson Smith
stated that he "did not care a damm who heard him; he would like to see every dammed Mormon hung by the neck." Philip St. George Cooke
, who had led the Mormon Battalion
during the Mexican War, merely bared his head in respect.
In early July, the Mormons from the northern settlements began to return to their homes after it was clear that no more reinforcements were being sent into Utah from either the east or west. Johnston's Army settled in Camp Floyd
, in a valley 50 miles southwest of Salt Lake City and separated from Provo (the second-largest city in the territory) by Utah Lake
and a small range of mountains. This remote location, neighbor only to a few farms and ranches, was chosen to decrease friction between the troops and the Mormons. The Army and the Mormons continued in a fragile co-existence until the troops left in 1861 when called back east for service in the American Civil War
.
However, the people of Utah lost much during the brief period of conflict. Largely due to their evacuation, the settlers' livelihoods and economic well-being were seriously impacted for at least that year and perhaps longer. Field crops had been ignored for most of the two-month long planting season and livestock herds had been culled for the journey. A year's worth of work improving their living conditions had essentially been lost. Some poverty would be widespread in the territory for several years. A number of Mormon settlements in Idaho
, Nevada and California
would not be resettled for decades and some were permanently abandoned.
In addition, Utah was under nominal military occupation. Historian Leonard J. Arrington
noted that "the cream of the United States Army" reviled the Mormon settlers. Relations between the troops and their commanders with the Mormons were often tense. Fortunately, the near isolation of Camp Floyd kept interaction to a minimum, as troops stayed on or near their base. Settlers living near the 7,000 troops quartered in Cedar Valley did sell the troops lumber for building construction, farm produce and manufactured goods. When the army finally abandoned Camp Floyd in 1861 at the outbreak of the American Civil War
, surplus goods worth an estimated four million dollars were auctioned off for a fraction of their value.
However, in 1862, new troops arrived and built Fort Douglas
in the foothills east of Salt Lake City.
One consequence of the Utah War was the creation of the famous Pony Express
. During the war, Lot Smith
and the Nauvoo Legion burned roughly fifty-two wagons belonging to outfitters Russell, Majors and Waddell
. The government never reimbursed the outfitters for these losses, and in 1860 they formed the Pony Express to earn a government mail contract to keep them from falling into bankruptcy.
In the aftermath of the Utah War, Republicans won control of the House of Representatives in 1858. But every significant bill that they passed fell before the votes of southern Democratic Senators or suffered a presidential veto. The federal government remained stalemated and little could be done. By 1860 sectional strife split the Democratic Party into northern and southern wings, indirectly leading to the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln
in 1860. Popular Sovereignty
, the defense of which had been a major cause of the Utah Expedition, was finally repudiated when the resolution of the slavery question sparked the American Civil War
. Yet with the start of the Civil War, Republican majorities were able to pass legislation meant to curb the Mormon practice of polygamy such as the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
of 1862. However, President Abraham Lincoln did not enforce these laws; instead Lincoln gave Brigham Young tacit permission to ignore the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act in exchange for not becoming involved with the American Civil War. ... General Patrick Edward Connor, the commander of federal forces in Utah, was instructed to avoid a Mormon war: 'Under the circumstances, it is the course of true patriotism for you to not embark on any hostilities. It is infinitely better that you should avoid contact with them.' }} General Patrick Edward Connor
, commanding officer of the federal forces garrisoned at Fort Douglas, Utah
beginning in 1862 was explicitly instructed to not confront the Mormons. In March 1863, Judge Kinney issued a writ against Young for violation of the Suppression of Polygamy Act. The writ was served by the United States marshal and the prisoner promptly appeared at the state-house where an investigation was held. A $2,000 bail bond was posted awaiting the decision of the grand jury. The all Mormon grand jury refused an indictment citing a lack of evidence for Young's marriage to Amelia Folsom in January of that year.
In the end, the Utah War started a slow decline for Mormon isolation and power in Utah. The Latter-day Saints lost control of the executive branch and the federal district courts, but maintained political authority in the Territorial Legislature and the powerful probate courts. In 1869 the Transcontinental Railroad
was completed, and soon large numbers of "Gentiles" arrived in Utah to stay. Despite this, complete federal dominance was slow in coming. Brigham Young maintained a "shadow government" for years , although "theodemocracy
" in Utah gradually died out. Conflict between the Mormons and the federal government, particularly over the issue of polygamy, would continue for nearly 40 years before Utah was finally made a state in 1896, and was perhaps not fully resolved until the Smoot Hearings
of 1904-1907.
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
and the armed forces of the United States government. The confrontation lasted from May 1857 until July 1858. While there were casualties, mostly non-Mormon civilians, the "war" had no battles, and was resolved through negotiation.
Overview
From 1857 to 1858, the President James BuchananJames Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
administration sought to quell a supposed rebellion in Utah Territory by Mormon settlers. He sent US forces there, in what was known as the Utah Expedition. The Mormons, fearful that the large US military force had been sent to annihilate them, made preparations for defense. Though bloodshed was to be avoided, and the U.S. government also hoped that its purpose might be attained without the loss of life, preparations were made for war. Fire-arms were manufactured or repaired by the Mormons, scythes were turned into bayonets, and long-unused sabres were burnished and sharpened.
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." The Mormons blocked the army's entrance into the Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley
Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably West Valley City, Murray, Sandy, and West Jordan; its total population is 1,029,655 as of 2010...
, and weakened the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
by hindering them from receiving provisions.
However, while the confrontation between the Mormon militia, called the Nauvoo Legion and the U.S. Army involved some destruction of property and a few brief skirmishes in what is today southwestern Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, no actual battles occurred between the contending military forces.
Despite this, the confrontation was not bloodless. At the height of the tensions, on September 11, 1857, more than 120 California-bound settlers from Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
and other states, including unarmed men, women and children, were killed in remote southwestern Utah by a group of local Mormon militiamen. They first claimed that the migrants were killed by Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
. This event was later called the Mountain Meadows massacre
Mountain Meadows massacre
The Mountain Meadows massacre was a series of attacks on the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train, at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. The attacks culminated on September 11, 1857 in the mass slaughter of the emigrant party by the Iron County district of the Utah Territorial Militia and some local...
and the motives behind the incident remain a mystery.
The "Aiken Massacre" took place the following month. In October 1857, Mormons arrested six Californians traveling through Utah and charged them with being spies for the US Army. They were released, but later murdered and robbed of their stock and $25,000. Other incidents of violence have also been linked to the Utah War, including an Indian attack on the Latter-day Saint mission of Fort Limhi in eastern Oregon Territory
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
. They killed two Mormons and wounded several others. The historian Brigham Madsen notes, "[T]he responsibility for the [Fort Limhi raid] lay mainly with the Bannock
Bannock (tribe)
The Bannock tribe of the Northern Paiute are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. Their traditional lands include southeastern Oregon, southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and southwestern Montana...
." David Bigler concludes that the raid was probably instigated by members of the Utah Expedition who were trying to replenish their stores of livestock which had been stolen by Mormon raiders.
Taking all incidents into account, MacKinnon estimates that approximately 150 people died as a direct result of the year-long Utah War, including the 120 migrants killed at Mountain Meadows. He points out that this was close to the number of people killed during the seven-year contemporaneous struggle in "Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858...
."
In the end, negotiations between the United States and the Latter-day Saints resulted in a full pardon for the Mormons, the transfer of Utah's governorship from church President Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
to non-Mormon Alfred Cumming
Alfred Cumming (governor)
Alfred Cumming was appointed governor of the Utah territory in 1858 replacing Brigham Young following the Utah War...
, and the peaceful entrance of the US Army into Utah.
Background
Exodus to the Utah Territory
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
in the summer of 1847. Mormon pioneers began leaving the United States for Utah after a series of severe conflicts
Mormon War
The Mormon War is a name sometimes given to the 1838 conflict which occurred between Latter Day Saints and their neighbors in the northwestern region of the U.S. state of Missouri...
with neighboring communities in Missouri
Jackson County, Missouri
Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. With a population of 674,158 in the 2010 census, Jackson County is the second most populous of Missouri's counties, after St. Louis County. Kansas City, the state's most populous city and focus city of the Kansas City Metropolitan...
and Illinois
History of Nauvoo, Illinois
The known history of Nauvoo, Illinois starts with the Sauk and Fox tribes who frequented the area. By 1827 white settlers had built cabins in the area and the area became known as Commerce, Illinois. In late 1839 arriving Mormons bought the small town of Commerce and in April 1840 it was renamed...
, resulted in the death of Joseph Smith, Jr.
Death of Joseph Smith, Jr.
The death of Joseph Smith, Jr. on June 27, 1844 marked a turning point for the Latter Day Saint movement, of which Smith was the founder and leader. When he was attacked and killed by a mob, Smith was the mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and running for President of the United States...
, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
.
Brigham Young and other LDS Church leaders believed that the remoteness of Utah would secure the rights of Latter-day Saints, and ensure the free practice of their religion. Although the United States had gained control
Treaty of Cahuenga
The Treaty of Cahuenga, also called the "Capitulation of Cahuenga," ended the fighting of the Mexican-American War in Alta California in 1847. It was not a formal treaty between nations but an informal agreement between rival military forces in which the Californios gave up fighting...
of the settled parts of Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
and Nuevo México
Santa Fe de Nuevo México
Santa Fe de Nuevo México was a province of New Spain and later Mexico that existed from the late 16th century up through the mid-19th century. It was centered on the upper valley of the Rio Grande , in an area that included most of the present-day U.S. state of New Mexico...
in 1846 in the early stages of the Mexican-American War, legal transfer of the Mexican Cession
Mexican Cession
The Mexican Cession of 1848 is a historical name in the United States for the region of the present day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S...
to the U.S. came only with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
ending the war in 1848. LDS Church leaders understood that they were not "leaving the political orbit of the United States", nor did they want to. When gold was discovered in California, in 1848 at Sutter's Mill
Sutter's Mill
Sutter's Mill was a sawmill owned by 19th century pioneer John Sutter in partnership with James W. Marshall. It was located in Coloma, California, at the bank of the South Fork American River...
, which sparked the famous California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
, thousands of immigrants began moving west on trails that passed directly through territory settled by Mormon pioneers. Although the immigrants brought opportunities for trade, it also ended the Mormons' short-lived isolation.
In 1849, the Mormons proposed that a large part of the territory which they inhabited be incorporated into the United States as the State of Deseret
State of Deseret
The State of Deseret was a proposed state of the United States, propositioned in 1849 by Latter-day Saint settlers in Salt Lake City. The provisional state existed for slightly over two years and was never recognized by the United States government...
. Their primary concern was to be governed by men of their own choosing rather than "unsympathetic carpetbag appointees" whom they believed would be sent from Washington, D.C. if their region were given territorial status, as was customary. They believed that only through a state run by church leadership could they maintain their religious freedom. The US Congress created the Utah Territory as part of the Compromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War...
. President Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...
selected Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
, President of the LDS Church, as the first governor of the Territory. The Mormons were pleased by the appointment, but gradually the amicable relationship between Mormons and the federal government broke down.
Plural marriage, popular sovereignty, and slavery
At this time, the male leadership of the LDS Church supported and widely practiced polygamyPolygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
or "plural marriage
Plural marriage
Polygamy was taught by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890.The Church's practice of polygamy has been highly controversial, both within...
." It is estimated that 20% to 25% of Latter-day Saints were members of polygamous households with the practice involving approximately one third of Mormon women who reached marriageable age. The LDS leadership viewed plural marriage as a religious sacrament.
However, the rest of American society rejected polygamy with some even accusing the Mormons of gross immorality. During the Presidential Election of 1856 a key plank of the newly formed Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
's platform
Party platform
A party platform, or platform sometimes also referred to as a manifesto, is a list of the actions which a political party, individual candidate, or other organization supports in order to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having said peoples' candidates voted into political office or...
was a pledge "to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism: polygamy and slavery." The Republicans linked the Democratic principle of popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the political principle that the legitimacy of the state is created and sustained by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with Republicanism and the social contract...
to the acceptance of polygamy in Utah, and turned this accusation into a formidable political weapon.
Popular sovereignty was the theoretical basis of the Compromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War...
and the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty if they would allow slavery within...
of 1854. This concept was meant to remove the divisive issue of slavery in the Territories from national debate, forestalling armed conflict between the North and South. But during the campaign, the Republican Party denounced the theory as protecting polygamy. Leading Democrats such as Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Northern Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. He lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln, whom he had defeated two years earlier in a Senate contest following a famed...
, formerly an ally of the Latter-day Saints, began to denounce Mormonism to save the concept of popular sovereignty. The Democrats believed that American attitudes toward polygamy had the potential of derailing the compromise on slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. For the Democrats, attacks on Mormonism therefore had the dual purpose of disentangling polygamy from popular sovereignty, and distracting the nation from the ongoing battles over slavery.
Theodemocracy
Many east-coast politicians, such as President James Buchanan, were alarmed by the semi-theocraticTheocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
dominance of the Utah Territory under Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
. Young had been appointed territorial Governor under Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...
. While Mormons believe in most principles of classical liberalism
Classical liberalism
Classical liberalism is the philosophy committed to the ideal of limited government, constitutionalism, rule of law, due process, and liberty of individuals including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets....
found in the U.S. Constitution, Mormon political thought continues to be influenced by a concept dubbed "Theodemocracy
Theodemocracy
Theodemocracy is a political system that combines elements of theocracy and democracy.One concept of theodemocracy was theorized by Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement...
." Early Mormon pioneers, especially, associated it with the imminence of Christ's Second Coming
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
. This belief often led Mormon pioneers to elect ecclesiastical leaders to political office.
In addition to popular election, many early LDS Church leaders received quasi-political administrative appointments at both the territorial and federal level, that coincided with their ecclesiastical roles; in particular were the powerful probate judges. As the U.S. Constitution outlines, these executive and judicial appointments were confirmed by the Territorial Legislature, which largely consisted of popularly elected Latter-day Saints. Additionally, LDS Church leaders counseled Latter-day Saints to use ecclesiastical arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
to resolve disputes amongst church members before resorting to the more explicit legal system. Both Pres. Buchanan and the U.S. Congress saw these acts as obstructing, if not subverting, the operation of legitimate institutions of the United States.
Numerous newspaper articles continued to sensationalize Mormon beliefs and exaggerated earlier accounts of conflicts with frontier settlers. These stories led many Americans to believe that Mormon leaders were petty tyrants and that Mormons were determined to create a Zionist, polygamous kingdom in the newly acquired territories.
Many felt that these sensationalized beliefs, along with early communitarian practices of the United Order
United Order
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the United Order was one of several 19th century church collectivist programs. Early versions of the Order beginning in 1831 attempted to implement the Law of Consecration, a form of Christian communism, modeled after the New Testament church which had "all things...
, also violated the principles of republicanism
Republicanism in the United States
Republicanism is the political value system that has been a major part of American civic thought since the American Revolution. It stresses liberty and inalienable rights as central values, makes the people as a whole sovereign, supports activist government to promote the common good, rejects...
as well as the philosophy of laissez-faire
Laissez-faire
In economics, laissez-faire describes an environment in which transactions between private parties are free from state intervention, including restrictive regulations, taxes, tariffs and enforced monopolies....
economics. James Strang
James Strang
James Jesse Strang was an American religious leader, politician and self-proclaimed monarch who founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , a faction of the Latter Day Saint movement...
, a rival to Brigham Young and a LDS Church dissident, elevated these fears by proclaiming himself a king and resettled his followers on Beaver Island (Lake Michigan)
Beaver Island (Lake Michigan)
Beaver Island is the largest island in Lake Michigan and part of the Beaver Island archipelago. Once home to a unique American monarchy, the island is now a popular tourist and vacation destination....
, after the main body of the LDS Church had fled to Utah.
People also believed that Brigham Young maintained power through a paramilitary organization called the Danites. The Danites were created by some Latter-day Saints in Missouri in 1838. Most scholars believe that following the end of the Mormon War in the winter of 1838, the unit was partially disbanded. These factors contributed to the popular belief that Mormons "were oppressed by a religious tyranny and kept in submission only by some terroristic arm of the Church...[However] no Danite band could have restrained the flight of freedom-loving men from a Territory possessed of many exits; yet a flood of emigrants poured into Utah each year, with only a trickle...ebbing back."
Federal appointees
Organic Act
An Organic Act, in United States law, is an Act of the United States Congress that establishes a territory of the United States or an agency to manage certain federal lands. The first such act was the Northwest Ordinance, enacted by the Congress of the Confederation in 1787 in order to create the...
held that the governor, federal judges, and other important territorial positions were to be filled by appointees chosen by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, but without any reference to the will of Utah's population—as was standard for all territorial administration.
Some federal officials sent by the President maintained essentially harmonious relationships with the Latter-day Saints. For instance, from 1853–1855, the territorial supreme court was composed of two non-Mormons and one Mormon. However, both of these non-Mormons were well respected in the Latter-day Saint community, and were genuinely mourned upon their deaths. Others had severe difficulties adjusting to the Mormon-dominated territorial government and the unique Mormon culture. Historian Norman Furniss relates that although some of these appointees were basically honest and well-meaning, many were highly prejudiced against the Mormons even before they arrived in the territory, were woefully unqualified for their positions, and some were down-right reprobate.
On the other hand, the Latter-day Saints had no patience for the federal domination entailed in territorial status, and often showed defiance towards the representatives of the federal government. In addition, while the Saints sincerely declared their loyalty to the United States and celebrated the Fourth of July every year with unabashed patriotism, they were undisguisedly critical of the federal government, which they felt had driven them out from their homes in the east. Like the contemporary Abolitionists
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
, Latter-day Saint leaders declared that the judgments of God would be meted out upon the nation for its unrighteousness. Brigham Young echoed the opinion of many Latter-day Saints when he declared "I love the government and the Constitution of the United States, but I do not love the damned rascals that administer the government."
The Mormons also maintained a governmental and legal regime in "Zion," which they believed was perfectly permissible under the Constitution, but which was fundamentally different from that espoused in the rest of the country.
Thus, relations with the Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
who often differentiated between "Americans" and "Mormons", acceptance of the common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
, the criminal jurisdiction of probate courts, the Mormon use of ecclesiastical courts rather than the federal court system for civil matters, the legitimacy of land titles, water rights, and various other issues were a source of continual dispute between the Latter-day Saints and federal appointees in the Territory. Many of these officers were also appalled by the practice of polygamy and the Mormon belief system in general, and would harangue the Mormons for their "lack of morality" in public addresses. This already tense situation was further exacerbated by a period of intense religious revival starting in late 1856 dubbed the "Mormon Reformation
Mormon Reformation
The Mormon Reformation was a period of renewed emphasis on spirituality within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It took place in 1856 and 1857 and was under the direction of President of the Church Brigham Young. During the Reformation, Young sent his counselor Jedediah M...
."
Beginning in 1851, a number of federal officers, some claiming that they feared for their physical safety, left their Utah appointments for the east. The stories of these "Runaway Officials
Runaway Officials of 1851
The "Runaway Officials of 1851" were a group of three federal officers, Judge Perry Brocchus, Judge Lemuel Brandenbury, and Territorial Secretary Broughton Harris, who were appointed to Utah Territory by President Millard Fillmore in 1851...
" convinced the new President that the Mormons were nearing a state of rebellion against the authority of the United States. According to LDS historians James B. Allen
James B. Allen (historian)
James Brown "Jim" Allen is an American historian of Mormonism and was an official Assistant Church Historian of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1972–1979.-Biography:...
and Glen M. Leonard
Glen M. Leonard
Glen Milton Leonard is an American historian specializing in Mormon history.- Background :Leonard is a native of Farmington, Utah. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Utah. For a time he was managing editor of Utah Historical Quarterly. He has taught at both Brigham Young...
, the most influential information came from William W. Drummond, an associate justice of the Utah territorial supreme court who began serving in 1854. Drummond's letter of resignation of March 30, 1857 contained charges that Young's power set aside the rule of law in the territory, that the Mormons had ignored the laws of Congress and the Constitution, and that male Mormons acknowledged no law but the priesthood.
- He further charged the Church with murder, destruction of federal court records, harassment of federal officers, and slandering the federal government. He concluded by urging the president to appoint a governor who was not a member of the Church and to send with him sufficient military aid to enforce his rule.
As early as 1852, Dr. John M. Bernhisel, Utah's Mormon delegate to Congress, had suggested that an impartial committee be sent to investigate the actual conditions in the territory. This call for an investigation was renewed during the crisis of 1857 by Bernhisel and even by Senator Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Northern Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. He lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln, whom he had defeated two years earlier in a Senate contest following a famed...
. However, the President would not wait. Under massive popular and political pressure, President Buchanan decided to take decisive action against the Mormons soon after his inauguration on March 4, 1857.
President Buchanan first decided to appoint a new governor in place of Brigham Young. The position was offered to several individuals who refused, and the President finally settled on Alfred Cumming
Alfred Cumming (governor)
Alfred Cumming was appointed governor of the Utah territory in 1858 replacing Brigham Young following the Utah War...
during the summer. While Young became aware of the change in territorial administration through press reports and other sources, he received no official notification of his replacement until Cumming arrived in the Territory in November 1857. Buchanan also decided to send a force of 2,500 army troops to build a post in Utah and to act as a posse comitatus
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
once the new governor had been installed. They were ordered not to take offensive action against the Mormons, but to enter the territory, enforce the laws under the direction of the new governor, and defend themselves if attacked. This use of military force frightened the Mormons and lurid accounts in the Eastern newspapers gave the Mormons reason to expect the worst.
July–November 1857: tactical standoff
Preparations
Although the Utah Expedition had begun to gather as early as May under orders from General Winfield ScottWinfield Scott
Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....
, the first soldiers did not leave Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...
, Kansas until July 18, 1857. The troops were originally to be led by Gen. William S. Harney
William S. Harney
William Selby Harney was a cavalry officer in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War and the Indian Wars. He was born in what is today part of Nashville, Tennessee but at the time was known as Haysborough....
. However, affairs in "Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858...
" forced Harney to remain behind to deal with skirmishes between pro-slavery and free-soiler
Free Soil Party
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party in the United States active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, and in some state elections. It was a third party and a single-issue party that largely appealed to and drew its greatest strength from New York State. The party leadership...
militants. The Expedition's cavalry, the 2nd Dragoons, was kept in Kansas for the same reason. Because of Harney's unavailability, Col. Edmund Alexander was charged with the first detachment of troops headed for Utah. However, overall command was assigned to Col. Albert Sidney Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston served as a general in three different armies: the Texas Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army...
who did not leave Kansas until much later. As it was, July was already far into the campaigning season, and the army and their supply train were unprepared for winter in the Rocky Mountains. The army was not given instructions on how to react in case of resistance.
The Mormons' lack of information on the army's mission created apprehension and led to their making defensive preparations. While rumors spread during the spring that an army was coming to Utah and that Brigham Young had been replaced as governor, this was not confirmed until late July. Mormon mail contractors, including Porter Rockwell
Porter Rockwell
Orrin Porter Rockwell was a figure of the Wild West period of American History and a law man in the Utah Territory...
and Abraham O. Smoot
Abraham O. Smoot
Abraham Owen Smoot was a Mormon pioneer, the second mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, mayor of Provo, Utah, and an early supporter of Brigham Young Academy .-Early life:...
, received word in Missouri that their contract was canceled and that the Army was on the move. The men quickly returned to Salt Lake City and notified Brigham Young that U.S. Army units were marching on the Mormons. Young announced the approach of the army to a large group of Latter-day Saints gathered in Big Cottonwood Canyon
Big Cottonwood Canyon
Big Cottonwood Canyon is a canyon in the Wasatch Range southeast of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The -long canyon provides hiking, biking, picnicking, rock-climbing, camping and fishing in the summer. During winter, its two ski resorts, Brighton and Solitude, are popular among skiers...
for Pioneer Day celebrations on July 24, 1857.
Young firmly believed that God controlled the acts of men, including who the President chose to be governor of Utah. Although Young's secular position simplified his administration of the Territory, he believed his religious authority was more important among a nearly homogeneous population of Mormons. Young and the Mormon community feared renewed persecution and possibly annihilation by a large body of federal troops. Mormons remembered previous conflicts when they had lived near numerous non-Mormons. In 1838 they had been driven from Missouri into Illinois by direction of the governor after numerous complaints and a failure to abide by Missouri state law. Mormons state of mind was further alarmed when they learned in late June 1857 that LDS Apostle Parley P. Pratt
Parley P. Pratt
Parley Parker Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1835 until his murder in 1857. He served in the Quorum with his younger brother, Orson Pratt...
had recently been murdered while serving a mission in Arkansas.
Fearing the worst, Young ordered residents throughout Utah territory to prepare for evacuation, making plans to burn their homes and property and to stockpile food and stock feed. Guns were manufactured and ammunition was cast. Mormon colonists in small outlying communities in the Carson Valley
Carson Pass
Carson Pass is the Sierra Crest mountain pass over which State Route 88 crosses. The historic pass was a point on the Carson Trail during the California Gold Rush and was used for American Civil War shipping to California until the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad...
and San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
were ordered to leave their homes to consolidate with the main body of Latter-day Saints in Northern and Central Utah. All LDS missionaries serving in the United States and Europe were recalled. Young also sent George A. Smith
George A. Smith
George Albert Smith was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as a member of the church's First Presidency.-Childhood:Smith was born in Potsdam, St...
to the settlements of southern Utah to prepare them for action. Young's strategies to defend the Saints vacillated between all-out war, a more limited confrontation, and retreat.
Salmon River (Idaho)
The Salmon River is located in Idaho in the northwestern United States. The Salmon is also known as The River of No Return. It flows for through central Idaho, draining and dropping more than between its headwaters, near Galena Summit above the Sawtooth Valley in the Sawtooth National...
in Oregon Territory
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
in February 1858 and attacks in Tooele County just west of Great Salt Lake City.
Nauvoo Legion
The Nauvoo Legion was a militia originally organized by the Latter Day Saints to defend the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, . To curry political favor with the ambiguously-political Saints, the Illinois state legislature granted Nauvoo a liberal city charter that gave the Nauvoo Legion extraordinary...
. This was the Mormon militia created during the conflict in Illinois. The Navoo Legion was under the command of Daniel H. Wells
Daniel H. Wells
Daniel Hanmer Wells was an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the third mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, United States....
and consisted of all able-bodied men between 15 and 60. Young ordered the Legion to take delaying actions, essentially harassing federal troops. He planned to buy time for the Mormon settlements to prepare for either battle or evacuation, and create a window for negotiations with the Buchanan Administration. Thus, in mid-August, militia Colonel Robert T. Burton
Robert T. Burton
Robert Taylor Burton was a member of the presiding bishopric of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1874 until his death...
and a reconnaissance unit were sent east from Salt Lake City with orders to observe the oncoming American regiments and protect LDS emigrants traveling on the Mormon trail
Mormon Trail
The Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846 to 1868...
.
Captain Van Vliet
On July 28, 1857, U.S. Army Captain Stewart Van VlietStewart Van Vliet
Stewart Leonard Van Vliet , was a United States Army officer who fought on the side of the Union during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
, an assistant quartermaster, and a small escort were ordered to proceed directly from Kansas to Salt Lake City, ahead of the main body of troops. Van Vliet carried a letter to Young from General Harney ordering Young to make arrangements for the citizens of Utah to accommodate and supply the troops once they arrived. However, Harney's letter did not mention that Young had been replaced as governor, nor did it detail what the mission of the troops would be once they arrived and these omissions sparked even greater distrust among the Saints. On his journey, reports reached Van Vliet that his company might be in danger from Mormon raiders on the trail. The Captain therefore left his escort and proceeded alone.
Van Vliet arrived in Salt Lake City on September 8. Historian Harold Schindler
Harold Schindler
Harold Moroni "Hal" Schindler was an American journalist and historian, known for his articles and books on the American west...
states that his mission was to contact Governor Young and inform him of the expedition's mission: to escort the new appointees, to act as a posse comitatus
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
and to establish at least two and perhaps three new U.S. Army camps in Utah. Conversing with Van Vliet, Young denied complicity in the destruction of the law offices of U.S. Federal Judge Stiles and expressed concern that he (Young) might suffer the same fate as the previous Mormon leader, Joseph Smith, to which Van Vliet replied, "I do not think it is the intention of the government to arrest you," said Van Vliet, "but to install a new governor of the territory". Van Vliet's instructions were to buy provisions for the troops and to inform the people of Utah that the troops would only be employed as a posse comitatus when called on by the civil authority to aid in the execution of the laws.
Van Vliet's arrival in Salt Lake City was welcomed cautiously by the Mormon leadership. Van Vliet had been previously known by the Latter-day Saints in Iowa, and they trusted and respected him. However, he found the residents of Utah determined to defend themselves. He interviewed leaders and townspeople and "...attended Sunday services, heard emotional speeches, and saw the Saints raise their hands in a unanimous resolution to guard against any 'invader.'" Van Vliet found it impossible to persuade resentful Mormon leaders that the Army had peaceful intentions. He quickly recognized that supplies or accommodations for the Army would not be forthcoming. But Young told Van Vliet that the Mormons did not desire war, and "if we can keep the peace for this winter I do think there will be something turned up that may save the shedding of blood." However, marking a change from earlier pronouncements, Young declared that under threat from an approaching army he would not allow the new governor and federal officers to enter Utah. Nevertheless, Van Vliet told Young that he believed that the Mormons "have been lied about the worst of any people I ever saw." He promised to stop the Utah Expedition on his own authority, and on September 14 he returned east through the Mormon fortifications then being built in Echo Canyon (see below).
Upon returning to the main body of the army, Van Vliet reported that the Latter-day Saints would not resort to actual hostilities, but would seek to delay the troops in every way possible. He also reported that they were ready to burn their homes and destroy their crops, and that the route through Echo Canyon would be a death trap for a large body of troops. Van Vliet continued on to Washington, D.C. in company with Dr. John M. Bernhisel, Utah Territory's delegate to Congress. There, Van Vliet reported on the situation in the west and became an advocate for the Latter-day Saints and the end of the Utah War.
Martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
throughout the Territory and a document was printed to that effect. However, historians question the intent of this proclamation as it was never widely circulated, if at all, and while copies of the document exist, there is no mention of it in any contemporary sources. One commentary opines that "during most of August the Mormon leaders had not precisely focused on a strategy for dealing with the approaching army; and after the first proclamation was struck off, they likely had second thoughts about a direct confrontation with the federal government. On August 29, Brigham Young instructed Daniel H. Wells to draft a second proclamation of martial law."
On September 15, the day after Van Vliet left Salt Lake City, Young publicly declared martial law in Utah with a document almost identical to that printed in early August. This second proclamation received wide circulation throughout the Territory and was delivered by messenger to Col. Alexander with the approaching army. The most important provision forbade "all armed forces of every description from coming into this Territory, under any pretense whatsoever." It also commanded 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." But more important to California and Oregon bound travelers was the third section that stated "Martial law is hereby declared to exist in this Territory...and no person shall be allowed to pass or repass into, through or from this territory without a permit from the proper officer."
Contact
South Pass
South Pass is two mountain passes on the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Wyoming. The passes are located in a broad low region, 35 miles broad, between the Wind River Range to the north and the Oregon Buttes and Great Divide Basin to the south, in southwestern Fremont...
. The militia immediately began to burn grass along the trail and stampede the army's cattle. In early October, Legion members burned down Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger was originally a 19th century fur trading outpost established in 1842 on Blacks Fork of the Green River and later a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Mormon Trail. The Army established a military post here in 1858 during the Utah War until...
lest it fall into the hands of the army. A few days later, three large Army supply trains that were trailing the main army detachments were burned by Mormon cavalry led by Lot Smith
Lot Smith
Lot Smith was a Mormon pioneer and American frontiersman.-Background:Born in 1830 in Williamstown, Oswego County, New York, he became a close friend of Orrin Porter Rockwell and was known as "The Horseman" for his exceptional skills on horseback as well as for his help in rounding up wild mustangs...
. Associated horses and cattle were "liberated" from the supply trains and taken west by the militia. Few if any shots were fired in these exchanges, and the Army's lack of cavalry left them more or less open to Mormon raids. However, prisoners were captured by both sides, and the army began to grow weary of the constant Mormon harassment throughout the fall. At one point, Colonel Alexander mounted roughly 100 men on army mules to combat the Mormon militia. In the early morning of October 15, this "jackass cavalry" had a run-in with Lot Smith's command and fired over 30 bullets at the Mormons from 150 yards. No one was killed, but one Mormon took a bullet through his hat band, and one horse was grazed. In addition, through October and November, between 1,200 and 2,000 militiamen were stationed in Echo Canyon and Weber Canyon. These two narrow passes lead into the Salt Lake Valley, and provided the easiest access to the populated areas of northern Utah. Dealing with a heavy snowfall and intense cold, the Mormon men built fortifications, dug rifle pits and dammed streams and rivers in preparation for a possible battle either that fall or the following spring. Several thousand more militiamen prepared their families for evacuation and underwent military training.
Colonel Alexander, whom his troops called "old granny", decided not to enter Utah through Echo Canyon due to Van Vliet's report, news of the Mormon fortifications and a propaganda campaign by Brigham Young. But determined to fulfill his orders to enter the Territory, he decided to move around the Mormon defenses and enter Utah from the north along the Bear River
Bear River (Utah)
The Bear River is a river, approximately long, in southwestern Wyoming, southeastern Idaho, and northern Utah, in the United States. The largest tributary of the Great Salt Lake, it drains a mountainous area and farming valleys northeast of the lake and southeast of the Snake River Plain...
. However, Alexander's force was stopped by a heavy blizzard in late October. Colonel Johnston took command of the combined U.S. forces in early November, but by this time the command was hampered by a lack of supplies, animals, and the early onset of winter. Johnston was a more aggressive commander than Alexander but this predicament rendered him unable to immediately attack through Echo Canyon into Utah. Instead, he settled his troops into ill-equipped winter camps designated Camp Scott and Eckelsville, near the burned-out remains of Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger was originally a 19th century fur trading outpost established in 1842 on Blacks Fork of the Green River and later a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Mormon Trail. The Army established a military post here in 1858 during the Utah War until...
, now in the state of Wyoming. Johnston was soon joined by the 2nd Dragoons commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
Philip St. George Cooke
Philip St. George Cooke
Philip St. George Cooke was a career United States Army cavalry officer who served as a Union General in the American Civil War. He is noted for his authorship of an Army cavalry manual, and is sometimes called the "Father of the U.S...
, who had accompanied Alfred Cumming
Alfred Cumming (governor)
Alfred Cumming was appointed governor of the Utah territory in 1858 replacing Brigham Young following the Utah War...
, Utah's new governor, and a roster of other federal officials from Fort Leavenworth. However, they too were critically short of horses and supplies. On November 21, Cumming sent a proclamation to the citizens of Utah declaring them to be in rebellion, and soon after, a grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
was formed at Camp Scott, which indicted two Mormon prisoners, Brigham Young, and over sixty other members of the Mormon hierarchy for treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
. Johnston awaited resupply and reinforcement and prepared to attack the Mormon positions after the spring thaw.
Thomas L. Kane
Thomas L. Kane
Thomas Leiper Kane was an American attorney, abolitionist, and military officer who was influential in the western migration of the Latter-day Saint movement and served as a Union Army colonel and general of volunteers in the American Civil War...
of Pennsylvania asking for help. Kane was a man of some political prominence who had been helpful to the Mormons in their westward migration and later political controversies. In December, Kane contacted President Buchanan and offered to mediate between the Mormons and the federal government. In Buchanan's State of the Union
State Of The Union
"State Of The Union" is the debut single from British singer-songwriter David Ford. It had previously been featured as a demo on his official website, before appearing as a track on a CD entitled "Apology Demos EP," only on sale at live shows....
address earlier in the month, he had taken a hard stand against the Mormon rebellion, and had actually asked Congress to enlarge the size of the regular army to deal with the crisis. However, in his conversation with Kane, Buchanan worried that the Mormons might destroy Johnston's Army at severe political cost to himself, and stated that he would pardon the Latter-day Saints for their actions if they would submit to government authority. He therefore granted Kane unofficial permission to attempt mediation, although he held little hope for the success of negotiations. Upon approval of his mission by the President, Kane immediately started for Utah. During the heavy winter of 1857-1858, he traveled under the alias "Dr. Osborne" over 3,000+ miles from the East coast to Utah, first by ship to Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, crossing the isthmus via the newly constructed (1855) Panama Railway
Panama Railway
The Panama Canal Railway Company is a railway line that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean across Panama in Central America. It is jointly owned by the Kansas City Southern Railway and Mi-Jack Products...
, and then taking a second ship to San Francisco. Upon learning that the Sierra passes were blocked for the winter, he immediately took a ship to San Pedro, the unimproved harbor for what is now Los Angeles. He was met there by Mormons who took him overland through San Bernardino and Las Vegas, to Salt Lake City on the strenuous southern branch of the California Trail
California Trail
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
, arriving in February 1858.
Details of the negotiations between Kane and Young are unfortunately unclear. It seems that Kane successfully convinced Young to accept Buchanan's appointment of Cumming as Territorial governor, although Young had expressed his willingness to accept such terms at the very beginning of the crisis. It is uncertain if Kane was able to convince Young at this time to allow the army into Utah. However, in early March Kane traveled to the Johnston's winter base at Fort Bridger. Although his relationship with Colonel Johnston was poor, he eventually persuaded Governor Cumming to travel to Salt Lake City without his military escort under guarantee of safe conduct. As they descended Echo Canyon to Salt Lake city, Kane and the Mormon militia men successfully fooled Cumming as to the size of the armed contingent lining the canyon, something of which Cumming later complained bitterly. Cumming was courteously received by Young and the Utah citizenry in mid-April, and was shortly installed in his new office. Cumming thereafter became a moderate voice, and opposed the hard-line against the Mormons proposed by Colonel Johnston and other federal officials still at Camp Scott. Kane left Utah Territory for Washington, D.C. in May to report to President Buchanan on the results of his mission.
The move south
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
and the British government feared that the Mormons planned to seek refuge on Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
off the coast of British Columbia. David Bigler has shown that Young originally intended this evacuation to go northwards towards the Bitterroot Valley
Bitterroot Valley
The Bitterroot Valley is located in southwestern Montana in the northwestern United States. It extends over 100 miles from remote Horse Creek Pass north to a point near the city of Missoula...
in present day Montana. However, the Bannock
Bannock (tribe)
The Bannock tribe of the Northern Paiute are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. Their traditional lands include southeastern Oregon, southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and southwestern Montana...
and Shoshone
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....
raid against Fort Limhi in February 1858 blocked this northern retreat. Consequently, at the end of March 1858, settlers in the northern counties of Utah including Salt Lake City boarded up their homes and farms and began to move south, leaving small groups of men and boys behind to burn the settlements if necessary. As early as February 1858, Young had sent parties to explore the White Mountains on what is now the Utah/Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
border where, he erroneously believed, there were valleys that could comfortably harbor up to 100,000 individuals. Residents of Utah County just south of Salt Lake were asked to build and maintain roads and to help the incoming inhabitants of the northern communities. Mormon Elias Blackburn recorded in his journal, The roads are crowded with the Saints moving south. ...Very busy dealing out provisions to the public hands. I am feeding 100 men, all hard at work. Even after Alfred Cumming was installed as governor in mid-April, the "Move South" continued unabated. The movement may have included the relocation of nearly 30,000 people between March and July. Historians Allen and Leonard write:
- "It was an extraordinary operation. As the Saints moved south they cached all the stone cut for the Salt Lake TempleSalt Lake TempleThe Salt Lake Temple is the largest and best-known of more than 130 temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the sixth temple built by the church, requiring 40 years to complete, and the fourth operating temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo,...
and covered the foundations to make it resemble a plowed field. They boxed and carried with them twenty thousand bushels of tithingTitheA tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
grain, as well as machinery, equipment, and all the Church records and books. The sight of thirty thousand people moving south was awesome, and the amazed Governor Cumming did all he could to persuade them to return to their homes. Brigham Young replied that if the troops were withdrawn from the territory, the people would stop moving...."
Peace Commission
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
of Texas stated that a war against the Mormons would be
- " ... one of the most fearful calamities that has befallen this country, from its inception to the present moment. I deprecate it as an intolerable evil. I am satisfied that the Executive has not had the information he ought to have had on this subject before making such a movement as he has directed to be made."
On April 1, Senator Simon Cameron
Simon Cameron
Simon Cameron was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of War for Abraham Lincoln at the start of the American Civil War. After making his fortune in railways and banking, he turned to a life of politics. He became a U.S. senator in 1845 for the state of Pennsylvania,...
of Pennsylvania declared that he would support a bill to authorize volunteers to fight in Utah and other parts of the frontier only because
- "...this war is a war of the Administration; and I desire that the responsibility of it shall be on the Administration. I have no faith in their ability to conduct it; and I believe that before a year has passed over it will be evident to every citizen of the country that they have committed a great blunder..."
Therefore in April, the President sent an official peace commission to Utah consisting of Benjamin McCulloch
Benjamin McCulloch
Benjamin McCulloch was a soldier in the Texas Revolution, a Texas Ranger, a U.S. marshal, and a brigadier general in the army of the Confederate States during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
and Lazarus Powell, which arrived in June. The commission offered a free pardon to the Mormons for any acts incident to the conflict if they would submit to government authority. This included permitting Johnston's Army into the Territory. The commissioners further assured that the government would not interfere with their religion. They also hinted that once the new governor was installed and the laws yielded to, "a necessity will no longer exist to retain any portion of the army in the Territory, except what may be required to keep the Indians in check and to secure the passage of emigrants to California." While all these private assurances were inducements for the Latter-day Saints to bend to federal will, Buchanan maintained a tougher stance in his public statements.
- "PROCLAMATION ON THE REBELLION IN UTAH"
- ..."Now, therefore I, James Buchanan, President of the United States of America, have thought proper to issue this, my Proclamation, enjoining upon all public officers in the Territory of Utah to be diligent and faithful, to the full extent of the power, in the execution of the laws; commanding all citizens of the United States in the said Territory to aid and assist the officers in the performance of their duties; offering the inhabitants of Utah, who shall submit to the laws, a free pardon for seditions and treasons heretofore by them committed; warning those who shall persist, after notice of this proclamation, in the present rebellion against the United States, that they must expect no further leniency, but look to be rigorously dealt with according to their desserts; and declaring that the military forces now in Utah, and hereafter to be sent there, will not be withdrawn until the inhabitants of that Territory shall manifest a proper sense of the duty which they owe to this government".
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- James Buchanan April 6, 1858.
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- ..."Now, therefore I, James Buchanan, President of the United States of America, have thought proper to issue this, my Proclamation, enjoining upon all public officers in the Territory of Utah to be diligent and faithful, to the full extent of the power, in the execution of the laws; commanding all citizens of the United States in the said Territory to aid and assist the officers in the performance of their duties; offering the inhabitants of Utah, who shall submit to the laws, a free pardon for seditions and treasons heretofore by them committed; warning those who shall persist, after notice of this proclamation, in the present rebellion against the United States, that they must expect no further leniency, but look to be rigorously dealt with according to their desserts; and declaring that the military forces now in Utah, and hereafter to be sent there, will not be withdrawn until the inhabitants of that Territory shall manifest a proper sense of the duty which they owe to this government".
Brigham Young accepted Buchanan's terms and pardon, although he denied Utah had ever rebelled against the United States. Buchanan's proclamation was also unpopular among the Mormon rank and file. Arthur P. Welchman, a member of a company of missionaries that was recalled due to the war, wrote of the document:
- June – On the head-waters of the Sweet-Water, met Grosebecks' camp going to Platt Bridge for a train of goods. By these Brethren we had a proclamation from President Buchannan (sic) to the Inhabitants of Utah read to us. It was so full of lies, and showed so much meanness, that it elicited three groans from the company.
On June 19, a newly arrived reporter for the New York Herald
New York Herald
The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...
somewhat inaccurately wrote, "Thus was peace made - thus was ended the 'Mormon war', which...may be thus historisized: - Killed, none; wounded, none; fooled, everybody." At the end of June 1858 the Army troops under General Johnston entered the Salt Lake Valley unhindered. Riding through the still empty streets of Salt Lake City on June 26, an embittered Johnston was heard to say that he would have given "his plantation for a chance to bombard the city for fifteen minutes." Lt. Col. Charles Ferguson Smith
Charles Ferguson Smith
Charles Ferguson Smith was a career United States Army officer who served in the Mexican-American War and as a Union General in the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
stated that he "did not care a damm who heard him; he would like to see every dammed Mormon hung by the neck." Philip St. George Cooke
Philip St. George Cooke
Philip St. George Cooke was a career United States Army cavalry officer who served as a Union General in the American Civil War. He is noted for his authorship of an Army cavalry manual, and is sometimes called the "Father of the U.S...
, who had led the Mormon Battalion
Mormon Battalion
The Mormon Battalion was the only religiously based unit in United States military history, and it served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saints men led by Mormon company officers, commanded by regular...
during the Mexican War, merely bared his head in respect.
In early July, the Mormons from the northern settlements began to return to their homes after it was clear that no more reinforcements were being sent into Utah from either the east or west. Johnston's Army settled in Camp Floyd
Camp Floyd
Camp Floyd was a short-lived U.S. Army post near Fairfield, Utah, United States. The site is now a Utah state park known as Camp Floyd / Stagecoach Inn State Park and Museum.-Camp Floyd:...
, in a valley 50 miles southwest of Salt Lake City and separated from Provo (the second-largest city in the territory) by Utah Lake
Utah Lake
Utah Lake is a freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Utah. On the western side of Utah Valley, the lake is overlooked by Mount Timpanogos and Mount Nebo. The lake's only river outlet, the Jordan River, is a tributary of the Great Salt Lake and is highly regulated with pumps. Evaporation accounts...
and a small range of mountains. This remote location, neighbor only to a few farms and ranches, was chosen to decrease friction between the troops and the Mormons. The Army and the Mormons continued in a fragile co-existence until the troops left in 1861 when called back east for service in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Consequences
Although Eastern editors continued to condemn the Mormons' religious beliefs and practices, they praised their heroism in the face of military threat. By the time Governor Cumming was securely placed in office, the Utah War had become an embarrassment for President Buchanan. Called 'Buchanan's Blunder' by elements of the national press, the President was criticized for:- failing to officially notify Governor Young about his replacement,
- incurring the expense of sending troops without investigating the reports on Utah's disloyalty to the United States,
- dispatching the expedition late in the season, and
- failing to provide an adequate resupply train for the winter.
However, the people of Utah lost much during the brief period of conflict. Largely due to their evacuation, the settlers' livelihoods and economic well-being were seriously impacted for at least that year and perhaps longer. Field crops had been ignored for most of the two-month long planting season and livestock herds had been culled for the journey. A year's worth of work improving their living conditions had essentially been lost. Some poverty would be widespread in the territory for several years. A number of Mormon settlements in Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Nevada and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
would not be resettled for decades and some were permanently abandoned.
In addition, Utah was under nominal military occupation. Historian Leonard J. Arrington
Leonard J. Arrington
Leonard James Arrington was an author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association. He is known as the "Dean of Mormon History" and "the Father of Mormon History" because of his many influential contributions to the field.-Biographical background:Arrington was born in Twin Falls,...
noted that "the cream of the United States Army" reviled the Mormon settlers. Relations between the troops and their commanders with the Mormons were often tense. Fortunately, the near isolation of Camp Floyd kept interaction to a minimum, as troops stayed on or near their base. Settlers living near the 7,000 troops quartered in Cedar Valley did sell the troops lumber for building construction, farm produce and manufactured goods. When the army finally abandoned Camp Floyd in 1861 at the outbreak of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, surplus goods worth an estimated four million dollars were auctioned off for a fraction of their value.
However, in 1862, new troops arrived and built Fort Douglas
Fort Douglas, Utah
Camp Douglas was established in October 1862 as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah, for the purpose of protecting the overland mail route and telegraph lines along the Central Overland Route. In 1878, the post was renamed Fort Douglas. The fort was officially...
in the foothills east of Salt Lake City.
One consequence of the Utah War was the creation of the famous Pony Express
Pony Express
The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861...
. During the war, Lot Smith
Lot Smith
Lot Smith was a Mormon pioneer and American frontiersman.-Background:Born in 1830 in Williamstown, Oswego County, New York, he became a close friend of Orrin Porter Rockwell and was known as "The Horseman" for his exceptional skills on horseback as well as for his help in rounding up wild mustangs...
and the Nauvoo Legion burned roughly fifty-two wagons belonging to outfitters Russell, Majors and Waddell
Russell, Majors and Waddell
Russell, Majors and Waddell was a business partnership, based in Lexington, Missouri, between William Hepburn Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell. It operated various transportation and communications services in the American West in the 1850s and early 1860s, including stagecoach...
. The government never reimbursed the outfitters for these losses, and in 1860 they formed the Pony Express to earn a government mail contract to keep them from falling into bankruptcy.
In the aftermath of the Utah War, Republicans won control of the House of Representatives in 1858. But every significant bill that they passed fell before the votes of southern Democratic Senators or suffered a presidential veto. The federal government remained stalemated and little could be done. By 1860 sectional strife split the Democratic Party into northern and southern wings, indirectly leading to the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
in 1860. Popular Sovereignty
Popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the political principle that the legitimacy of the state is created and sustained by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with Republicanism and the social contract...
, the defense of which had been a major cause of the Utah Expedition, was finally repudiated when the resolution of the slavery question sparked the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Yet with the start of the Civil War, Republican majorities were able to pass legislation meant to curb the Mormon practice of polygamy such as the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act was a federal enactment of the United States Congress that was signed into law on July 8, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln...
of 1862. However, President Abraham Lincoln did not enforce these laws; instead Lincoln gave Brigham Young tacit permission to ignore the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act in exchange for not becoming involved with the American Civil War. ... General Patrick Edward Connor, the commander of federal forces in Utah, was instructed to avoid a Mormon war: 'Under the circumstances, it is the course of true patriotism for you to not embark on any hostilities. It is infinitely better that you should avoid contact with them.' }} General Patrick Edward Connor
Patrick Edward Connor
Patrick Edward Connor was a Union General during the American Civil War. He was most famous for his campaigns against Native Americans in the American Old West.-Early life and career:...
, commanding officer of the federal forces garrisoned at Fort Douglas, Utah
Fort Douglas, Utah
Camp Douglas was established in October 1862 as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah, for the purpose of protecting the overland mail route and telegraph lines along the Central Overland Route. In 1878, the post was renamed Fort Douglas. The fort was officially...
beginning in 1862 was explicitly instructed to not confront the Mormons. In March 1863, Judge Kinney issued a writ against Young for violation of the Suppression of Polygamy Act. The writ was served by the United States marshal and the prisoner promptly appeared at the state-house where an investigation was held. A $2,000 bail bond was posted awaiting the decision of the grand jury. The all Mormon grand jury refused an indictment citing a lack of evidence for Young's marriage to Amelia Folsom in January of that year.
In the end, the Utah War started a slow decline for Mormon isolation and power in Utah. The Latter-day Saints lost control of the executive branch and the federal district courts, but maintained political authority in the Territorial Legislature and the powerful probate courts. In 1869 the Transcontinental Railroad
Transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
was completed, and soon large numbers of "Gentiles" arrived in Utah to stay. Despite this, complete federal dominance was slow in coming. Brigham Young maintained a "shadow government" for years , although "theodemocracy
Theodemocracy
Theodemocracy is a political system that combines elements of theocracy and democracy.One concept of theodemocracy was theorized by Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement...
" in Utah gradually died out. Conflict between the Mormons and the federal government, particularly over the issue of polygamy, would continue for nearly 40 years before Utah was finally made a state in 1896, and was perhaps not fully resolved until the Smoot Hearings
Smoot Hearings
The Reed Smoot hearings were a series of Congressional hearings on whether the United States Senate should seat U.S. Senator Reed Smoot, who was elected by the Utah legislature in 1903...
of 1904-1907.
Timeline of events
- July 24, 1847: MormonMormonThe term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
Pioneers found Salt Lake CitySalt Lake City, UtahSalt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
as the first city of the State of DeseretState of DeseretThe State of Deseret was a proposed state of the United States, propositioned in 1849 by Latter-day Saint settlers in Salt Lake City. The provisional state existed for slightly over two years and was never recognized by the United States government...
. - February 2, 1848: The Treaty of Guadalupe HidalgoTreaty of Guadalupe HidalgoThe Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
is signed by the U.S. and MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, granting the region of Deseret to the U.S. - September 9, 1850: The Great Compromise of 1850Compromise of 1850The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War...
is signed into law, creating the Utah Territory and appointing Brigham Young governor. - March 4, 1857: James BuchananJames BuchananJames Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
takes office as President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. - April 1857: Troops are mobilized for the Utah campaign . The press in the Eastern U.S. begins to speculate on who would be appointed to replace Brigham Young.
- May 28, 1857: Winfield ScottWinfield ScottWinfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....
, General-in-Chief of the U.S. Army, announces the creation of the Military Department of Utah, to be assembled at Fort LeavenworthFort LeavenworthFort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...
. - June 29, 1857: U.S. President James BuchananJames BuchananJames Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
declares Utah in rebellion against the U.S. government, and mobilizes a regiment of the U.S. army, initially led by Col. Edmund Alexander. - July 5, 1857: Brigham Young refers in a sermon to "rumors" that the U.S. is sending 1,500 to 2,000 troops into the Utah TerritoryUtah TerritoryThe Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
, and warns them, possibly sarcastically, that if people enter the territory and don't "behave themselves", they will be subject to a "Vigilance Committee", and the Danites will "bite their heels" . - July 13, 1857: President Buchanan appoints Alfred CummingAlfred Cumming (governor)Alfred Cumming was appointed governor of the Utah territory in 1858 replacing Brigham Young following the Utah War...
governor of Utah, and directs him to accompany the military forces into Utah . - July 18, 1857: Two Mormons, Porter RockwellPorter RockwellOrrin Porter Rockwell was a figure of the Wild West period of American History and a law man in the Utah Territory...
and Abraham Owen Smoot, learn of Buchanan's declaration in Kansas CityKansas City Metropolitan AreaThe Kansas City Metropolitan Area is a fifteen-county metropolitan area that is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri and is bisected by the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas. As of the 2010 Census, the metropolitan area has a population of 2,035,334. The metropolitan area is the...
while on a mail run. On the same day, Col. Alexander and his troops begin the journey to Utah. - July 23, 1857: Rockwell and Smoot arrive in Salt Lake CitySalt Lake City, UtahSalt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
and inform Brigham YoungBrigham YoungBrigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
of the government's plans. - July 26, 1857: Heber C. KimballHeber C. KimballHeber Chase Kimball was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement. He served as one of the original twelve apostles in the early Latter Day Saint church, and as first counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his...
refers to 2,500 approaching troops and states that if somehow their wagons and cattle arrive in Utah without the troops, it would be "a mighty help to us" . Jokingly, he said he had "wives enough to whip out the United States" . - August 2, 1857: Brigham Young publicly discusses the possible secessionSecessionSecession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
of the Mormon theocracy from the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the establishment of an independent kingdom . Heber C. Kimball issues a curse upon President Buchanan and predicts his untimely death (JD 5:129). - August 5, 1857: Brigham Young declares martial law . This date is somewhat anomalous however. No evidence supports the claim that this declaration ever circulated during August. However, a slightly different declaration of martial law was issued and received wide circulation on September 15.
- August 28, 1857: Col. Johnston is ordered to replace Gen. Harney as commander of the U.S. troops.
- August 30, 1857: Brigham Young discusses the possible secession of the Mormon "Kingdom of God" from the United States, and announces: "We must have the kingdom of God, or nothing. We are not to be overthrown." (JD 5:166).
- September 7, 1857: Mountain Meadows Attack. An emigrant wagon train of non-Mormons is attacked and besieged by a mixed contingent of MormonMormonThe term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
militia dressed as PaiutePaiutePaiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.-Origin of name:The origin of...
Indians. - September 11, 1857: In the Mountain Meadows massacreMountain Meadows massacreThe Mountain Meadows massacre was a series of attacks on the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train, at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. The attacks culminated on September 11, 1857 in the mass slaughter of the emigrant party by the Iron County district of the Utah Territorial Militia and some local...
, a group of Mormons under John D. LeeJohn D. LeeJohn Doyle Lee was a prominent early Latter-day Saint who was executed for his role in the Mountain Meadows massacre.-Early Mormon leader:...
, with a white flag, lure out the survivors, and kill nearly all of them. - September 15, 1857: Brigham YoungBrigham YoungBrigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
calls out the Nauvoo LegionNauvoo LegionThe Nauvoo Legion was a militia originally organized by the Latter Day Saints to defend the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, . To curry political favor with the ambiguously-political Saints, the Illinois state legislature granted Nauvoo a liberal city charter that gave the Nauvoo Legion extraordinary...
to fight the U.S. Troops if they enter Utah Territory. - September 18, 1857: Col. Johnston and his troops leave Fort LeavenworthFort LeavenworthFort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...
, KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
and are headed for UtahUtah TerritoryThe Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
. - October 5, 1857: Lot SmithLot SmithLot Smith was a Mormon pioneer and American frontiersman.-Background:Born in 1830 in Williamstown, Oswego County, New York, he became a close friend of Orrin Porter Rockwell and was known as "The Horseman" for his exceptional skills on horseback as well as for his help in rounding up wild mustangs...
leads the Nauvoo Legion on a guerrillaGuerrilla warfareGuerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
-style attack on the provision wagons of the U.S. Army. Fifty-two wagons belonging to outfitters Russell, Majors and WaddellRussell, Majors and WaddellRussell, Majors and Waddell was a business partnership, based in Lexington, Missouri, between William Hepburn Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell. It operated various transportation and communications services in the American West in the 1850s and early 1860s, including stagecoach...
are burned. The government never reimburses the outfitters and in 1860 they form the Pony ExpressPony ExpressThe Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861...
to earn a government mail contract to keep them from falling into bankruptcy. - November 3, 1857: Col. Albert Sidney JohnstonAlbert Sidney JohnstonAlbert Sidney Johnston served as a general in three different armies: the Texas Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army...
catches up with Col. Alexander and replaces him as commander. Johnston orders the regiment to spend the winter in Fort BridgerFort BridgerFort Bridger was originally a 19th century fur trading outpost established in 1842 on Blacks Fork of the Green River and later a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Mormon Trail. The Army established a military post here in 1858 during the Utah War until...
and to delay the move to Salt Lake City until next spring. - December 19, 1857: President James BuchananJames BuchananJames Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
submits the nomination of Alfred CummingAlfred Cumming (governor)Alfred Cumming was appointed governor of the Utah territory in 1858 replacing Brigham Young following the Utah War...
to the United States SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. - March 23, 1858: Brigham YoungBrigham YoungBrigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
implements a scorched earthScorched earthA scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
policy. All faithful are ordered to move south to ProvoProvo, UtahProvo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...
and to prepare their homes in Salt Lake City for burning. - April 6, 1858: James BuchananJames BuchananJames Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
: Proclamation on the Rebellion in Utah. ("a free pardon for the seditions and treasons heretofore by them committed;") - April 12, 1858: The U.S. Army and Cumming arrive in Salt Lake City. Brigham YoungBrigham YoungBrigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
surrenders the title of governor to Alfred CummingAlfred Cumming (governor)Alfred Cumming was appointed governor of the Utah territory in 1858 replacing Brigham Young following the Utah War...
.
See also
- 1838 Mormon War (Missouri)
- Haun's Mill massacreHaun's Mill massacreThe Haun's Mill massacre was an event in the history of the Latter Day Saint movement. It occurred on October 30, 1838 when a mob/militia unit from Livingston County attacked a Mormon settlement in eastern Caldwell County, Missouri, United States, after the Battle of Crooked River...
(1838 Missouri) - Missouri Executive Order 44 (1838)
- Illinois Mormon War (1844–1845)
- Mormon Exodus (1846–1857)
- Mormon ReformationMormon ReformationThe Mormon Reformation was a period of renewed emphasis on spirituality within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It took place in 1856 and 1857 and was under the direction of President of the Church Brigham Young. During the Reformation, Young sent his counselor Jedediah M...
(1856–1858) - Mountain Meadows massacreMountain Meadows massacreThe Mountain Meadows massacre was a series of attacks on the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train, at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. The attacks culminated on September 11, 1857 in the mass slaughter of the emigrant party by the Iron County district of the Utah Territorial Militia and some local...
(1857) - Morrisite WarMorrisite WarThe Morrisite War was a skirmish between a Latter Day Saint sect known as the "Morrisites" and the Utah territorial government.-Morrisites:In 1857 Joseph Morris, an English convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah, reported receiving revelations naming him the Seventh...
(1862) - Morrill Anti-Bigamy ActMorrill Anti-Bigamy ActThe Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act was a federal enactment of the United States Congress that was signed into law on July 8, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln...
(1862) - Poland ActPoland ActThe Poland Act of 1874 was an act of the United States Congress which sought to facilitate prosecutions under the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act by eliminating the control members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints exerted over the justice system of Utah Territory. Sponsored by Senator...
(1874) - Reynolds v. United StatesReynolds v. United StatesReynolds v. United States, , was a Supreme Court of the United States case that held that religious duty was not a suitable defense to a criminal indictment...
(1879) - Edmunds ActEdmunds ActThe Edmunds Act, also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882, is a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23, 1882, declaring polygamy a felony. The act is named for U.S. Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont...
(1882) - Edmunds-Tucker ActEdmunds-Tucker ActThe Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887 was passed in response to the dispute between the United States Congress and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding polygamy. The act is found in US Code Title 48 & 1461, full text as 24 Stat. 635, with this annotation to be interpreted as Volume...
(1887) - LDS Church v. United StatesThe Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints v. United StatesThe Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States, was a Supreme Court case that upheld the Edmunds-Tucker Act on May 19, 1890...
(1890) - 1890 Manifesto1890 ManifestoThe "1890 Manifesto", sometimes simply called "The Manifesto", is a statement which officially disavowed the continuing practice of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
- Smoot HearingsSmoot HearingsThe Reed Smoot hearings were a series of Congressional hearings on whether the United States Senate should seat U.S. Senator Reed Smoot, who was elected by the Utah legislature in 1903...
(1903–1907) - Second ManifestoSecond ManifestoThe "Second Manifesto" was a 1904 declaration made by Joseph F. Smith, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , in which Smith stated the church was no longer sanctioning marriages that violated the laws of the land and set down the principle that those entering into or...
(1904) - Short Creek raidShort Creek raidThe Short Creek raid is the name given to Arizona state police and Arizona National Guard action against Mormon fundamentalists that took place on the morning of July 26, 1953, at Short Creek, Arizona. The Short Creek raid was the largest mass arrest of polygamists in American history...
(1953) - TheodemocracyTheodemocracyTheodemocracy is a political system that combines elements of theocracy and democracy.One concept of theodemocracy was theorized by Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement...
- List of conflicts in the United States
External links
- "Chapter 19: The Utah War", in Bancroft's History of Utah, from the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- Eugene Campbell, "The Utah War", Signature Books
- Donna Ramos, "The Utah War: US Government vs. Mormon Settlers", Historynet.com, Weider Publishers