USA > Utah > History of Utah > Part 54
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1. The force-2nd dragoons, 5th infantry, 10th infantry and Phelps' battery of the 4th artillery-to be provided with transportation and supplies, will be estimated at not less than 2,500 men.
2. The Adjutant General will, in concert with the chiefs of the respective depart- ments, issue the necessary orders for assigning to this force a full complement of disbursing and medical officers, an officer of ordnance and an Assistant Adjutant General, if the latter be required.
He will relieve Captain Phelps' 4th artillery and Hawes' 2nd dragoons from special duty, and order them to join their companies. He will also give the necessary orders for the movement of any available officers, whose services may be desired by the Quarter- master General or Commissary General in making purchases. Lieutenant Col. Taylor and Brevet Major Waggaman will be ordered to exchange stations,
All available recruits are to be assigned to the above named regiments up to the time of departure.
3. About, 2,000 head of beef cattle must he procured and driven to Utah.
Six months' supply of bacon (for two days in a week) must be sent-desiccated vegetables in sufficient quantity to guard the health of the troops for the coming winter.
4. Arrangements will be made for the concentration and temporary halt of the 5th infantry at Jefferson Barracks.
The squadron of dragoons at Fort Randall taking their horse equipments with them will leave their horses at that post, and a remount must be provided for them at Fort Leavenworth. Also, horses must be sent out to the squadron at Fort Kearney, and the whole regiment, as also Phelps' battery, brought to the highest point of efficiency.
Besides the necessary trains and supplies, the quartermaster's department will pro- cure for the expedition 250 tents of Sibley's pattern, to provide for the case that the troops shall not be able to hut themselves the ensuing winter. Storage tents are needed for the like reason. Stoves enough to provide, at least, for the sick, must accompany the tents.
5. The Surgeon General will cause the necessary medical supplies to be provided, and requisition made for the means of transporting them with the expedition.
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6. The chief of ordnance will take measures immediately to put in position for the use of this force, three traveling forges and a full supply of ammunition, and will make requisition for the necessary transportation of the same.
WINFIELD SCOTT.
Along with this should go the letter of instructions to Brigadier- General Harney, who was at first entrusted with the command of the Utah Expedition :
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
NEW YORK, June 29, 1857.
SIR: The letter which I addressed to you in the name of the general-in-chief, on the 28th ultimo, his circular to the chiefs of staff departments same date ; his general order No. 8, current series, and another now in press, have indicated your assignment to the command of an expedition to Utah Territory, and the preparatory measures to be taken.
The general-in-chief desires me to add in his name the following instructions, pre- pared in concert with the War Department, and sanctioned by its authority, whenever required.
The community and, in part, the civil government of Utah Territory are in a state of substantial rebellion against the laws and authority of the United States. A new civil governor is about to be designated, and to be charged with the establishment and maintenance of law and order. Your able and energetic aid, with that of the troops to be placed under your command, is relied upon to insure the success of his mission.
The principles by which you should be guided have been already indicated in a somewhat similar case, and are here substantially repeated.
If the governor of the Territory, finding the ordinary course of judicial proceedings of the power vested in the United States Marshals and other proper officers inadequate for the preservation of the public peace and the due execution of the laws, should make requisition upon you for a military force to aid him as posse comitatus in the performance of that official duty, you are hereby directed to employ for that purpose the whole or such part of your command as may be required ; or should the governor, the judges, or marshals of the Territory find it necessary directly to summon a part of your troops, to aid either in the performance of his duties, you will take care that the summons be promptly obeyed. And in no case will you, your officers or men, attack any body of citizens, whatever, except on such requisition or summons, or in sheer self-defence.
In executing this delicate function of the military power of the United States the civil responsibility will be upon the governor, the judges and marshals of the Territory. While you are not to be, and cannot be subjected to the orders, strictly speaking, of the governor, you will be responsible for a jealous, harmonious and thorough co-operation with him, or frequent and full consultation, and will conform your action to his requests and views in all cases where your military judgment and prudence do not forbid, nor compel you to modify, in execution, the movements he may suggest. No doubt is enter- tained that your conduct will fully meet the moral and professional responsibilities of your trust; and justify the high confidence already reposed in you by the government.
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The lateness of the season, the dispersed condition of the troops and the smallness of the numbers available, have seemed to present elements of difficulty, if not hazard in this expedition. But it is believed that these may be compensated by usual care in its outfit, and great prudence in its conduct. All disposable recruits have been reserved for it.
So well is the nature of this service appreciated, and so deeply are the honor and the interest of the United States involved in its success, that I am authorized to say that the government will hesitate at no expense requisite to complete the efficiency of your little army, and to insure health and comfort to it, as far as attainable. Hence, in addition to liberal orders for its supply heretofore given-and it is known that ample measures, with every confidence of success, have been dictated by chiefs of staff departments here-a large discretion will be made over to you in the general orders for the movement. The employment of spies, guides, interpreters or laborers may be made to any reasonable extent you may think desirable.
The prudence expected of you requires that you should anticipate resistance, general, organized and formidable, at the threshold, and shape your movements as if they were certain, keeping the troops well massed and in hand when approaching expected resistance. Your army will be equipped, for a time, at least, as a self-sustaining machine. Detachments will, therefore, not be lightly hazarded, and you are warned not to be betrayed into premature security or over confidence.
A small but sufficient force must, however, move separately from the main column, guarding the beef cattle and such other supplies as you may think would too much encumber the march of the main body. The cattle may require to be marched more slowly than the troops, so as to arrive in Salt Lake Valley in good con- dition, or they may not survive the inclemency and scanty sustenance of the winter. This detachment, though afterwards to become the rear guard, may, it is hoped, be put in route before the main body, to gain as much time as possible before the latter passes it.
The general-in-chief suggests that feeble animals, of draught ,and cavalry, should be left ten or twelve days behind the main column, at Fort Laramie, to recruit and follow.
It should be a primary object on arriving in the valley, if the condition of things permit, to procure not only fuel, but material for hutting the troops. Should it be too late for the latter purpose, or should such employment of the troops be unsafe or impracti- cable, the tents (of Sibley's pattern) furnished will, it is hoped, afford a sufficient shelter.
It is not doubted that a surplus of provisions and forage, beyond the wants of the resident population, will be found in the valley of Utah; and that the inhabitants, if assured by energy and justice, will be ready to sell them to the troops. Hence no instructions are given you for the extreme event of the troops being in absolute need of such supplies and their being withheld by the inhabitants. The necessities of such an occasion would furnish the law for your guidance.
Besides the stated reports required by regulations, special reports will be expected from you, at the headquarters of the army, as opportunity may offer.
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The general-in-chief desires to express his best wishes, official and personal, for your complete success and added reputation.
I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
GEORGE W. LAY, Lieutenant Colonel Aid-de-Camp.
Brevet Brigadier General W. S. Harney,
Commanding, etc., Fort Leavenworth, K. T.
P. S .- The general-in-chief (in my letter of the 26th instant) has already conveyed to you a suggestion-not an order, nor even a recommendation-that it might be well to send forward in advance a part of your horse to Fort Laramie, there to halt and be recruited in strength, by rest and grain, before the main body comes up.
Respectfully,
G. W. L., Lt. Col., Aid-de-Camp.
As said, these instructions were issued and the preparations for carrying them out conducted with great secrecy. The Mormons, however, though far from suspecting such an invasion-for they were not conscious of having done anything to warrant it-were informed of the military movement in time to prepare for the emergency.
On the 27th of February, 1857, while the excitement caused by the incendiary reports of Judge Drummond and his clique was at its height, two citizens of Utah, Feramorz Little and Ephraim K. Hanks, arrived at Independence, Missouri, having left Salt Lake City on the 11th of the previous December. These men, braving the wintry storms, had crossed the plains under special contract with the postmaster of Salt Lake City, to carry the eastern mails, owing to the failure of Messrs. Hockaday and Magraw to punctually and properly close their contract. The new contract-Hiram Kimball's- was just about going into effect; though that gentleman, on account of the non-arrival of the mails in Utah, had not been officially notified, when Hanks and Little started east, of the acceptance of his bid by the Government. As soon as the notice came, prepara- tions to begin were vigorously pushed forward, a fact which furnished a pretext for the complaint made by Indian Agent Twiss. Nevertheless, the delay in beginning-a delay caused by Hockaday and Magraw-was subsequently taken advantage of by the Post Office Department to justify the cancellation of the Kimball contract.
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Mr. Little, having delivered the mail at Independence, proceeded on to Washington to collect his pay for the special service. He next visited New York. The newspapers of the metropolis were then teeming with hostile comments on Utah and her people, caused by Judge Drummond's report, which had lately been published. Incensed at these atrocious calumnies, and the unjust reflections thereby inspired, Mr. Little addressed the following letter to the New York Herald:
MERCHANT'S HOTEL, N. Y., April 15, 1857.
Editor Herald :
SIR : As myself and Mr. E. K. Hanks are the last persons who have come to the States from Great Salt Lake City, I deem it my duty to bear testimony against the lying scribblers who seem to be doing their utmost to stir up a bad feeling against the Utonians. We left our homes on the 11th of December, brought the last mail to the States, and certainly should know of the state of things there. The charges of Judge Drummond are as false as he is corrupt. Before I left for the States, I was five days every week in Great Salt Lake City, and I witness to all the world that I never heard one word of the burning of nine hundred volumes of law, records, etc., nor anything of that character, nor do l know, or ever heard of anything of the dumb boy story he talks of.
There is only one house between my house and the Penitentiary, said to contain "five or six young men from Missouri and Iowa," and I do know that up to the day I left, there were only in that place of confinement three Indians, who were convicted at the time of Colonel Steptoe's sojourn there, for having taken part in the massacre of Captain Gunnison and party, which Drummond now charges upon the Mormons, even though Colonel Steptoe and the United States officers then in Utah investigated the affair thoroughly and secured the conviction of the three Indians alluded to. This is an unblushing falsehood, that none but a man like Drummond could pen.
The treasonable acts alleged against the Mormons in Utah are false from beginning to end. At Fort Kearney we learned all about the murder of Colonel Babbitt, and do know that that charge against the Mormons is but another of Drummond's creations.
I have but a short time at my disposal for writing, but must say, that I am astonished to find in the States, rumors against Utah. We left our homes in peace, dreaming of no evil, and we come here and learn that we are the most corrupt of men, and are preparing for war.
Yours, etc.,
FERAMORZ LITTLE.
Learning from Mr. James M. Livingston,* a Utah merchant then in New York, that the Y. X. Company had begun operations
* Mr. Livingston was senior partner of the firm of Livingston and Bell, Gentile merchants of Salt Lake City.
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under the Kimball contract, and that he was expected to take charge of some of the returning mails, Mr. Little at once set out for Independence. Arriving there he met John R. Murdock, just from Utah with the latest mails, having left Salt Lake City early in March. Several tons of mail matter had accumulated at Independence. With a portion of it, in two or more wagons, Mr. Murdock started west about the 1st of May. Mr. Litttle waited another month to obtain an out-fit, and with three wagons loaded with mail matter set out for Salt Lake City about the beginning of June.
While at Independence he had encountered various contractors who informed him of the proposed military expedition to Utah, for which they were collecting supplies. Mr. Little could scarcely believe it possible that the Government had any such design. But the contractors assured him that such was the case, and that while nothing official in relation to it had yet come from Washington, preparations were going forward and such a movement was projected and certain.
Near Fort Laramie Mr. Little met Mayor A. O. Smoot, of Salt Lake City, who had left home on the 2nd of June, having in charge the Utah mails. He was accompanied by a young man named Ensign. Between Forts Laramie and Kearney, Mayor Smoot encountered a body of United States cavalry, two or three hundred strong, reconnoitering the country, as they stated, for hostile Indians, who were still very troublesome. The officer in command treated Mr. Smoot with marked courtesy, and offered to furnish him an escort as far as Fort Kearney. The latter declined the offer with thanks, as he was traveling at the rate of sixty miles per day, and did not think the troops would care to keep up with him. Whether or not these soldiers were a portion of the army destined for Utah, the reader may determine after glancing again at the post script of the letter of instructions to General Harney.
Proceeding eastward Mayor Smoot next met several heavy freight trains, the teamsters of which were very reticent regarding their destination. All that could be learned from them was that
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their wagons contained Government freight, that they were bound for some western post, and that the trains belonged to William H. Russell. Two days later the Mayor arrived at Kansas City, twelve miles west of Independence, where he joined Nicholas Groesbeck, who was in charge of the Y. X. Company's business at that end of the route. Together they went to the office of William H. Russell, in Kansas City, and there learned to their astonishment that the Government had indeed ordered an army to Utah, and that the freight trains which Mr. Smoot had met contained supplies for the troops that would soon set out for the west. They were also told that Brigham Young had been superseded as Governor of Utah, and that another Governor, with a full set of Federal officials, would accompany the troops to Salt Lake City.
The two Utah men could scarcely credit this report, though coming from one of the principal contractors whose trains of army supplies were even then en route to the Territory. Mr. Groesbeck, leaving Mayor Smoot at Kansas City to gather additional information regarding the expedition, took the mails brought by him to Indepen- dence and delivered them to the postmaster at that place. The official received them, but declined to deliver the return mails, stating that he had instructions from Washington to deliver no more mail matter for Salt Lake City for the present.
Here was official confirmation of the prevalent rumor. Back went Mr. Groesbeck to Kansas City, and informed Mayor Smoot of what the postmaster had said. Accepting this refusal of the mails as proof positive that the Government had indeed determined to make war on Utah, they now decided to take prompt action. Considering that the brief though vigorous career of the B. Y. Express Company was at an end, they resolved to break up the various mail stations that had been founded under its auspices, and move the outfits westward. Mayor Smoot and Judson Stoddard undertook this responsibility, assisted by several others. They moved slowly, gathering up the Company's property as they went, and on the 17th of July reached Fort Laramie. Over a hundred
Alorsbeck
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miles east of that point they had met Porter Rockwell with the July mails from Salt Lake City. He returned with them to Laramie.
It was now decided that a portion of the party should push on as rapidly as possible, and convey to Utah the news of the coming of the troops. Accordingly, on the evening of July 18th Mayor Smoot, Judson Stoddard and Porter Rockwell, hitching two span of their best animals to a light spring wagon, and leaving trusty men to bring along the stock and other property of the Express Company, set out in advance for Salt Lake Valley.
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CHAPTER XXIX. 1857.
PIONEER DAY IN THE TOPS OF THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS-THE CELEBRATION AT SILVER LAKE -TIDINGS OF THE COMING OF THE TROOPS-HOW THE NEWS WAS RECEIVED-BRIGHAM YOUNG DETERMINES TO RESIST THE ENTRY OF THE ARMY INTO SALT LAKE VALLEY- GENERAL JOHNSTON AND HIS COMMAND LEAVE FORT LEAVENWORTH-CAPTAIN VAN VLIET PRECEDES THE EXPEDITION TO UTAH-HIS INTERVIEWS WITH GOVERNOR YOUNG-THE MORMON LEADER'S ULTIMATUM-"WHEN THOSE TROOPS ARRIVE THEY SHALL FIND UTAH A DESERT "-A SECOND MOSCOW THREATENED-VAN VLIET'S OFFICIAL REPORT.
ULY 24th, that notable Utah holiday, had again come round, and on this the tenth anniversary of the entry of the Pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, the people had assembled to celebrate, as was their wont, the event which had placed that day "among the high tides of the calendar." The occasion was observed in various parts of the Territory, but the grand celebration took place on the banks of Silver Lake, at the head of Big Cottonwood Canyon.
This delightful retreat-now one of the most popular summer resorts in all Utah-is a cosy little glen surrounded by snow-capped peaks and pine-covered hills, situated in the very tops of the Wasatch Mountains, eight thousand feet above the level of the sea. It is about twenty-five miles south-east of Salt Lake City, and twelve miles east of the Valley, whence it is reached by a rugged canyon road so rocky and declivitous in places that the name "stairs" has been bestowed, and not inaptly, upon a portion of the way leading thither .* At that time, though the route was not entirely new, since the previous "Twenty-fourth" had been celebrated at Silver Lake, it was much more difficult than at present. The way up the canyon, .
* Silver Lake is now known as " Brighton's,"-so named for its present owner.
J. H. CRECKEWELL, PHOTO.
Silver Lake, Big Cottonwood Canyon.
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originally impassable for teams, and nearly so for horsemen or pedestrians, had been made practicable by the Big Cottonwood Lumber Company, which had erected three saw-mills at different points in the canyon, and constructed, above the highest one, as far as the lake, five miles of road expressly for the former celebration.
Silver Lake is a clear, crystal sheet of fresh, pure water, fed by innumerable ice-cold rills, meandering from the rocky, pine-clad heights and snow-crowned hills on all sides hemming it in. It
covers an area of about forty acres, and lies along one side of the charming little vale which it serves to more highly adorn. Above this lake are several others, such as Lake Mary, Lake Martha, Lake Blanche, some of which have been made more or less famous by artist's brush or poet's pen. These lakes are veritable wildwood gems, nestling in picturesque loveliness among the loftiest summits, receiving in rock-girt, mossy-brimmed basins the tribute of their dissolving snows, and rendering tribute, one to another, and finally all to the clear silvery reservoir slumbering in placid beauty between green banks and luxuriant groves below.
Such was the spot selected for the celebration, in the year 1857, of the glorious "Twenty-fourth." Two days before the grand event, those invited to take part therein, had left their homes in Salt Lake Valley and its vicinity and thronged on horseback or in vehicles to the rendezvous at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was a motley yet merry sight to see them come; wagons loaded with camping outfits, bedding, provisions and human beings of all sizes and ages, from the tottering, silver-haired veteran to the toddling or nursing child; wending their way by different routes toward the place of gathering, greeting with glad faces and happy hearts friends and kindred along the way, or good-naturedly jostling against them at the general camp-ground. Little dreamed they, as they laughed and chatted, shook hands and congratulated, talked of old times at Kirtland, Nauvoo and Winter Quarters, spoke of their past toils and trials in subduing the desert, or of the glorious time they anticipated having in the mountains, that ere they returned therefrom news 39-VOL. 1.
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would come that should cause the ears of all who heard it to tingle.
Early on the morning of the 23rd the long line of carriages and wagons, with cavalry and artillery accompanying, began the ascent of "the stairs." Governor Young and other civil and military magnates led the way. Among them were Heber C. Kimball, George A. Smith and Lieutenant-General Wells. Adjutant-General James Ferguson was there, at the head of the 1st company of light artillery; Colonel Robert T. Burton, with a detachment of life-guards and a platoon of lancers, and there was also a company of light infantry commanded by Captain John W. Young. This company- a unique military organization-was composed of fifty youths, mere lads, ranging from ten to twelve years. They had been uniformed by Governor Young and were styled the "Hope of Israel." Colonel Chauncey W. West, of the Weber Military District, and Colonel Jesse C. Little, who on the morrow was to be marshal of the day, were also present. Forming portions of the procession were Captain Ballo's band, the Nauvoo, Springville and Ogden City brass bands and the Salt Lake City and Ogden martial bands. Nearly twenty-six hundred persons, with about five hundred vehicles and fifteen hundred animals-horses, mules, oxen and cows-composed the cavalcade.
At 11 a. m., the vanguard reached the head-waters of Big Cottonwood, and pitched their tents and arranged their wagons under the shade of the trees along the banks of the beautiful Silver Lake. By another hour nearly all had arrived at the camp-ground, and the mid -day meal having been despatched, the remainder of the day was spent in preparing for the celebration. Among the facilities provided for that purpose were three spacious boweries with plank floors, erected by the Big Cottonwood Lumber Company.
At sunset the sound of the bugle summoned the campers to an eminence near the center of the grounds, where President Young addressed them. He recounted to his people the mercies of the Lord in delivering them from their enemies in the past, and in bounteously
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blessing the land which they inhabited. After he had concluded, President Kimball offered prayer, in which all silently and reverently joined. He prayed for "Israel and Israel's enemies," and dedicated anew the spot upon which they had assembled to hold their celebra- tion. The assembly then dispersed, some to retire for the night, but the majority to while away the evening hours in the dance.
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