History of Salt Lake City, Part 18

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company
Number of Pages: 1194

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" Utah is isolated, is full of rugged mountains, desert plains, and barren valleys, and peculiarly uncomely in the eyes of lovers of rich, well timbered soil, broad rivers, extended seaboards, and commercial marts. Let her present popu- lation leave her borders, and the few oases, now gladdened with the busy hum of civilized life, would soon revert to the occupancy of the rude savage, and crumb- ling desolation would mark the site of stately edifices.

"Utah, with but little aid from the parent, has grown rapidly amid all her disadvantages, and, amid the jealousy and hostility of numerous Indian tribes, to high position in wealth and numbers. And are not the intelligence and energy which have so rapidly produced such laudable results, where none others would thrust in their sickles, sufficient guarantee that Utah is most emphatically deserv- ing of a state organization?

"She has wealth, a numerous, intelligent, and highly patriotic population, is accustomed to make her own public buildings, roads, and bridges, has success- fully conducted the Indian wars waged within her boundaries, has nearly ex- pelled litigation through a wise system of legislation and policy, furnishes few abominable and illegal acts to swell the record of earth's corruptions, not even enough to make her news spicy and interesting to the corrupt taste of a perverse generation ; then is there any good, fair, valid reason why Utah should not be speedily admitted into the Union as a free, sovereign, and independent State named Deseret? Not one. Hence it is but fair to infer that Senators and Rep. resentatives in Congress will grant the prayer of Utah for admission as unani- mously as she presents it, independent of sectional prejudices, strife and debate of every name and description, for only two questions are to be asked, viz: is her constitution republican? Is she willing and able to maintain a state govern-

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ment ? Every one knows that those questions, and every legitimate question that can be asked, admit of only affirmative answers."

The people of Utah waited hopefully for the favorable action of Congress until December, when Governor Young, in his annual message to the Legislature, thus reported upon the matter :

" In accordance with Acts of the Legislative Assembly, a Constitution was formed and adopted, the census taken, and delegates chosen to present our ap- plication to Congress for admission into the Union as a sovereign and indepen- dent State. Recent advices from our delegates show that our application has not been presented, owing to the intolerance evinced by the predominant party in the House of Representatives.

" The enumeration of the inhabitants showed a population of near 77,000 in this Territory, and it is presumed that the addition to our numbers, since that was taken, would amount to about twenty thousand. This gives an aggregate equal to or exceeding the ratio of representation for Congressmen, removing every objection, if any were made, to our admission, on the score of insufficient population."

Simply a bare notice is here seen of opposition in Congress to the admission of Utah ; but no indignant protest, much less anything to indicate a condition of rebellion ; yet a few months later the United States ordered a military expedition to Utah to put down rebellion, restore its rule which had not been broken, while the President appointed a new Governor for the Territory, Hon. Alfred Cum- ming, of Georgia who when he did come was recieved by them with a loyal good will.

The Buchanan administration, however, had not acted without some infor- mation and prompting, which were considered by it sufficient at the time, but very insufficient soon afterwards ; and it is with that information and prompting, or rather conspiracy, that this historital exposition has now to deal.

When in less than a year from the issuing of General Scott's circular, the House of Representatives passed a resolution requesting President Buchanan " to communicate to the House of Representatives the information which gave rise to the military expedition ordered to Utah" Lewis Cass, Secretary of State, re- ported that "the only document on record or on file in this department, touching the subject of the resolution, is the letter of Mr. W. F. Magraw to the President, of the 3rd of October last, a copy of which is hereto annexed : "

MR. MAGRAW TO THE PRESIDENT.

INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI, October 3d, 1856.

" MR. PRESIDENT : I feel it incumbent upon me as a personal and political friend, to lay before you some information relative to the present political and social condition of the Territory of Utah, which may be of importance.

"There is no disguising the fact, that there is left no vestage of law and order, no protection for life or property ; the civil laws of the Territory are over- shadowed and neutralized by a so-styled ecclesiastical organization, as despotic, dangerous and damnable, as has ever been known to exist in any country, and 3

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which is ruining not only those who do not subscribe to their religious code, but is driving the moderate and more orderly of the Mormon community to despera- tion. Formerly, violence committed upon the rights of persons and property were attempted to be justified by some pretext manufactured for the occasion, under color of law as it exists in that country. The victims were usually of that class whose obscurity and want of information necessary to insure proper investi- gation and redress of their wrongs were sufficient to guarantee to the perpetrators freedom from punishment. Emboldened by the success which attended their first attempts at lawlessness, no pretext or apology seems now to be deemed re- quisite, nor is any class exempt from outrage ; all alike are set upon by the self- constituted theocracy, whose laws, or rather whose conspiracies, are framed in dark corners, promulgated from the stand of tabernacle or church, and executed at midnight, or upon the highways, by an organized band of bravos and assassins, whose masters compel an outraged community to tolerate in their midst. The result is that a considerable and highly respectable portion of the community, known from the Atlantic to the Pacific, whose enterprise is stimulated by a laud- able desire to improve their fortunes by honorable exertions, are left helpless vic- tims to outrage and oppression, liable at any moment to be stripped of their property or deprived of life, without the ability to put themselves under the pro- tection of law, since all the courts that exist there at present are converted into engines and instruments of injustice.

"For want of time I am compelled thus to generalize, but particular cases, with all the attendant circumstances, names of parties and localities are not wanting to swell the calendar of crime and outrage to limits that will, when pub- lished, startle the conservative people of the States, and create a clamor which will not be readily quelled ; and I have no doubt that the time is near at hand, and the elements rapidly combining to bring about a state of affairs which will result in indiscriminate bloodshed, robbery and rapine, and which in a brief space of time will reduce that country to the condition of a howling wilderness.

" There are hundreds of good men in the country, who have for years en- dured every privation from the comforts and enjoyments of civilized life, to confront every description of danger for the purpose of improving their fortunes. These men have suffered repeated wrong and injustice, which they have en- deavored to repair by renewed exertions, patiently awaiting the correction of outrage by that government which it is their pride to claim citizenship under, and whose protection they have a right to expect; but they now see themselves liable, at any moment, to be stripped of their hard earned means, the lives of themselves and their colleagues threatened and taken; ignominy and abuse, heaped upon them day after day, if resented, is followed by murder.

"Many of the inhabitants of the Territory possess passions and elements of character calculated to drive them to extremes, and have the ability to conceive and have the courage to carry out the boldest measures for redress, and I know that they will be at no loss for a leader. When such as these are driven by their wrongs to vindicate, not only their rights as citizens, but their pride of man- hood, the question of disparity in numerical force is not considered among their difficulties, and. I am satisfied that a recital of their grievances would form an

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apology, if not sufficient justification, for the violation on their part of the usages of civilized communities.

" In addressing you, I have endeavored to discard all feelings arising from my personal annoyances in the Mormon country, but have desired to lay before you the actual condition of affairs, and to prevent, if possible, scenes of lawless- · ness which, I fear, will be inevitable unless speedy and powerful preventives are applied. I have felt free to thus address you, from the fact that some slight re- quests made of me when I last left Washington, on the subject of the affairs of Kansas, justified me in believing that you had confidence in my integrity, and that what influence I could exert would not be wanting to terminate the unfortu- nate difficulties in that Territory ; I have the pleasure of assuring you that my efforts were not spared.

" With regard to the affairs and proceedings of the probate court, the only existing tribunal in the Territory of Utah, there being but one of the three federal judges now in the Territory, I will refer you to its records, and to the evidence of gentlemen whose assertions cannot be questioned; as to the treat- ment of myself, I will leave that to the representation of others ; at all events, the object I have in view, the end I wish to accomplish for the general good, will preclude my wearying you with a recital of them at present.

" I have the honor to be very truly yours, etc.

W. M. F. MAGRAW."

John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, was only able to furnish to the House the correspondence of the expedition itself, commencing with the foregoing circular, and including the proclamation of Governor Young and the correspondence be- tween him and Col. Alexander; the Department of the Interior furnished several letters from David H. Burr, Surveyor General of Utah, the office of Indian affairs made up a budget from the Indian Agents of the Territory, and the Attorney General's office supplied the following :

" ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, February 24, 1858.

"SIR: In reply to so much of the resolution of the House of Representa- tives, of the 27th ult., referred by you to this offce, calling for 'information which gave rise to the military expeditions to Utah Territory,' etc., I have the honor to transmit herewith :

"I. The letter of resignation of W. W. Drummond, Associate Justice of Supreme Court of Utah Territory.

" 2. The letter of Curtis Bolton, deputy clerk of the Supreme Court of Utah Territory, in reply to allegations contained in W. W. Drummond's letter of resignation ; the above being all the correspondence on the files of this office re- lating to the subject.

"I am, very respectfully,

J. S. BLACK.

The President."

"NEW ORLEANS, LA, April 2, 1857.

"DEAR SIR : When I started for my home in Illinois, I designed reaching

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Washington before the executive session adjourned, but could not accomplish the long and tedious journey in time ; thence I concluded to come this way, and go up the Mississippi river to Chicago.

" You will see that I have made bold charges against the Mormons, which I think I can prove without doubt. You will see by the contents of the enclosed paper, wherein is inserted my resignation, some of the reasons that induced me to resign. I now refer you to Hon. D. WV. Burr, surveyor general of Utah Ter- ritory, Hon. Garland Hurt, Indian agent ; also C. L. Craig, Esq., D. L. Thomp- son, Esq., John M. Hockaday, Esq., John Kerr, Esq., Gentiles of Great Salt Lake City, for proof of the manner in which they have been insulted and abused by the leading Mormons for two years past. I shall see you soon on the subject.

In haste, yours truly,

W. W. DRUMMOND.

Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, Attorney General, etc."

RESIGNATION OF JUDGE DRUMMOND.

" MARCH 30, 1857.

"MY DEAR SIR: As I have concluded to resign the office of Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Utah, which position I accepted in A. D., 1854, under the administration of President Pierce, I deem it due to the public to give some of the reasons why I do so. In the first place, Brigham Young, the Governor of Utah Territory, is the acknowledged head of the 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,' commonly called ' Mormons;' and, as such head, the Mormons look to him, and to him alone, for the law by which they are to be governed: therefore no law of Congress is by them considered binding in any manner.

"Secondly. I know that there is a secret oath-bound organization among all the male members of the Church to resist the laws of the country, and to ac- knowledge no law save the law of the 'Holy Priesthood,' which comes to the people through Brigham Young direct from God ; he, Young, being the vice- gerent of God and Prophet, viz: successor of Joseph Smith, who was the founder of this blind and treasonable organization.

"Thirdly. I am fully aware that there is a set of men, set apart by special order of the Church, to take both the lives and property of persons who may question the authority of the Church; the names of whom I will promptly make known at a future time.

" Fourthly. That the records, papers, etc., of the Supreme Court have been destroyed by order of the Church, with the direct knowledge and approbation of Governor B. Young, and the Federal officers grossly insulted for presuming to raise a single question about the treasonable act.

" Fifthly. That the Federal officers of the Territory are constantly in- sulted, harrassed, and annoyed by the Mormons, and for these insults there is no redress.

" Sixthly. That the Federal officers are daily compelled to hear the form of the American government traduced, the chief executives of the nation, both liv-

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ing and dead, slandered and abused from the masses, as well as from all the lead- ing members of the Church, in the most vulgar, loathsome, and wicked manner that the evil passions of men can possibly conceive.

" Again : That after Moroni Green had been convicted in the District Court before my colleague, Judge Kinney, of an assault with intent to commit murder, and afterwards, on appeal to the Supreme Court, the judgment being affirmed and the said Green being sentenced to the penitentiary, Brigham Young gave a full pardon to the said Green before he reached the penitentiary ; also, that the said Governor Young pardoned a man by the name of Baker, who had been tried and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in the penitentiary, for the murder of a dumb boy by the name of White House, the proof showing one of the most aggravated cases of murder that I ever knew being tried; and to insult the Court and Government officers, this man Young took this pardoned criminal with him, in proper person, to church on the next Sabbath after his conviction ; Baker, in the meantime, having received a full pardon from Governor Brigham Young. These two men were Mormons. On the other hand, I charge the Mormons, and Governor Young in particular, with imprisoning five or six young men from Mis- souri and Iowa, who are now in the penitentiary of Utah, without those men having violated any criminal law in America. But they were anti-Mormons- poor, uneducated young men en route for California ; but because they emigrated from Illinois, Iowa, or Missouri, and passed by Great Salt Lake City, they were indicted by a probate court, and most brutally and inhumanly dealt with, in addition to being summarily incarcerated in the saintly prison of the Territory of Utah. I also charge Governor Young with constantly interfering with the federal courts, directing the grand jury whom to indict and whom not ; and after the judges charge the grand juries as to their duties, that this man Young invar- ably has some member of the grand jury advised in advance as to his will in re- lation to their labors, and that his charge thus given is the only charge known, obeyed, or received by all the grand juries of the federal courts of Utah Ter- ritory.

"Again, sir, after a careful and mature investigation, I have been compelled to come to the conclusion, heart-rending and sickening as it may be, that Cap- tain John W. Gunnison, and his party of eight others, were murdered by the Indians in 1853, under the orders, advice, and direction of the Mormons; that my illustrious and distinguished predecessor, Hon. Leonidas Shaver, came to his death by drinking poisoned liquors, given to him under the order of the leading men of the Mormon Church in Great Salt Lake City; that the late secretary of the Territory, A. W. Babbitt, was murdered on the plains by a band of Mormon marauders, under the particular and special order of Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and J. M. Grant, and not by the Indians, as reported by the Mormons themselves, and that they were sent from Salt Lake City for that purpose, and that only; and as members of the Danite Band they were bound to do the will of Brigham Young as the head of the church, or forfeit their own lives. These reasons, with many others that I might give, which would be too heart-rending to insert in this communication, have induced me to resign the office of justice of the Territory of Utah, and again return to my adopted State of Illinois.

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My reason, sir, for making this communication thus public is, that the dem- ocratic party, with which I have always strictly acted, is the party now in power, and, therefore, is the party that should now be held responsible for the treason- able and disgraceful state of affairs that now exists in Utah Territory. I could, sir, if necessary, refer to a cloud of witnesses to attest the reasons I have given, and the charges, bold as they are, against those despots, who rule with an iron hand their hundred thousand souls in Utah, and their two hundred thousand souls out of that notable Territory ; but I shall not do so, for the reason that the lives of such gentlemen as I should designate in Utah and in California, would not be safe for a single day.

In conclusion, sir, I have to say that, in my career as justice of the supreme court of Utah Territory, I have the consolation of knowing that I did my duty, that neither threats nor intimidations drove me from that path. Upon the other hand, I am pained to say that I accomplished little good while there, and that the judiciary is only treated as a farce. The only rule of law by which the in- fatuated followers of this curious people will be governed, is the law of the church, and that emanates from Governor Brigham Young, and him alone.

I do believe that, if there was a man put in office as governor of that Ter- ritory, who is not a member of the church, (Mormon), and he supported with a suffi- cient military aid, much good would result from such a course ; but as the Territory is now governed, and as it has been since the administration of Mr. Fillmore, at which time Young received his appointment as governor, it is noonday madness and folly to attempt to administer the law in that Territory. The officers are in- sulted, harassed, and murdered for doing their duty, and not recognizing Brig- ham Young as the only law-giver and law-maker on earth. Of this every man can bear incontestable evidence who has been willing to accept an appointment in Utah ; and I assure you sir, that no man would be willing to risk his life and property in that Territory after once trying the sad experiment.

With an earnest desire that the present administration will give due and timely aid to the officers that may be so unfortunate as to accept situations in that Territory, and that the withering curse which now rests upon this nation by virtue of the peculiar and heart-rending institutions of the Territory of Utah, may be speedily removed, to the honor and credit of our happy country, I now remain your obedient servant,

W. W. DRUMMOND,

Justice Utah Territory.

Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, Attorney General of the United States, Washington City, D. C.

"GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH TERRITORY.

"SIR : My attention having been drawn to the letter of Justice W. W. Drum- mond, under the date of March 30, 1857, addressed to yourself, tendering his resignation as associate justice for Utah, wherein my office is called in question, I feel it incumbent upon me to make to you the following report :

"Justice W. W. Drummond, in his 'fourth' paragraph, says: 'The re-

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cords, papers, &c., of the supreme court have been destroyed by order of Gover- nor B. Young, and the federal officers grossly insulted for presuming to raise a single question about the treasonable act.'

" I do solemnly declare this assertion is without the slightest foundation in truth. The records, papers, &c., of the supreme court in this Territory, to- gether with all decisions and documents of every kind belonging thereto, from Monday, September 22, 1851, at which time said court was first organized, up to this present moment, are all safe and complete in my custody, and not one of them missing, nor have they ever been disturbed by any person.

"Again, in the decision of the supreme court in the case of Moroni Green, the which decision was written by Judge Drummond himself, I find the following words : 'That as the case, for which Green was convicted, seems to have been an aggravated one, this court does remit the costs of the prosecution, both in this court and in the court below.' Green was provoked to draw a pistol in self- defence, but did not point it at any one. He was a lad of 18 years old. Much feeling was excited in his favor, and he was finally pardoned by the governor, upon a petition signed by the judges, and officers of the United States, courts, the honorable secretary of state, and many of the influential citizens of Great Salt Lake City.

"Again: in relation to the 'incarceretion of five or six young men from Missouri and Iowa, who are now (March 30, 1857,) in the penitentiary of Utah, without those men having violated any criminal law in America,' &c. This state- ment is also utterly false.

" I presume he alludes to the incarceration, on the 22d January, 1856, of three men, and on the 29th of January, 1856, of one more; if so these are the circumstances :

" There were quite a number of persons came here as teamsters in Gilbert and Gerrish's train of goods, arriving here in December, 1855, after winter had set in. They arrived here very destitute; and at that season of the year there is nothing a laboring man can get to do. Some of these men entered the store of S. M. Blair & Co., at various times in the night, and stole provisions, groceries, &c. Some six or eight were indicted for burglary, and larceny. Three plead guilty, and a fourth was proven guilty ; and the four were sentenced to the pen- itentiary for the shortest time the statute allowed for the crime; and just as soon as the spring of 1856 opened, and a company was preparing to start for Cali- fornia, upon a petition setting forth mitigating circumstances, the governor pardoned them, and they went on their way to California. It was a matter, well understood here at the time, that these men were incarcerated more particularly to keep them from commiting further crime during the winter.

" Since that time there have been but four persons sentenced to the peniten- tiary, one for forgery and three for petty larceny, for terms of sixty and thirty days, to wit: One on the 19th November, 1856, for larceny, thirty days; two on the 24th November, 1856, for aggravated larceny, sixty days and one on the 26th January, 1857, for forgery, thirty days. So that on the 30th March, 1857, (the date of W. W. Drummond's letter,) there was not a white prisoner in the Utah

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penitentiary; nor had there been for several days previous, nor is there at this present writing.

"I could, were it my province in this affidavit, go on and refute all that Judge W. W. Drummond has stated in his aforesaid letter of resignation, by re- cords, dates, and facts; but believing the foregoing is sufficient to show you what reliance is to be placed upon the assertions or word of W. W. Drummond, I shall leave this subject.

[L. S.]

"In witness of the truth of the foregoing affidavit, I have hereunto sub- scribed my name and affixed the seal of the United States supreme court for Utah Territory, at Great Salt Lake City, this twenty-sixth day of June, A. D. 1857.

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History of Salt Lake City, Part 18

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company Number of Pages: 1194

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company
Number of Pages: 1194