USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume I > Part 13
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In 1837 he came back to America and soon afterward was appointed as mis- sionary to the Flathead Indians. On April 5, 1840, he left St. Louis with an American Fur Company party bound for the Northwest. This party reached the Green River on June 30, 1840, and on the following Sunday (July 5th) Father De Smet celebrated the first mass ever observed in what is now the State of Wyoming, his audience being a motley crowd of trappers and Indians gathered at the rendezvous, the improvised altar being decorated with the wild flowers of the prairie. The place where this mass was celebrated was for a long time known as "The Prairie of the Mass."
The next day, with an Indian called Ignace as guide, Father De Smet set out for the Flathead country. He met the main body of the tribe at Pierre's Hole and shook hands with the Indians, after which Chief Big Face addressed the priest thus :
"Black Robe, my heart was glad when I heard that you were coming among us. Never has my lodge seen a greater day. As soon as I received the news of your coming I had my_big kettle filled to give you a feast in the midst of my people. I have had my best three dogs killed for the feast. They are very fat. You are welcome."
After some time among the Flathead Indians, Father De Smet went to the Blackfeet and established missions in what is now Montana. He then visited
the Crow tribe, but their chief was rather skeptical and determined to put the
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missionary to a test. Pointing out an old buffalo bull near the encampment, the chief asked Father De Smet to go out and put his hand on the buffalo's head. Here was a dilemma. The priest realized the danger of approaching a wild buffalo, but at the same time he knew that if he refused he would be looked upon by the Indians as an impostor. Slowly he approached the bull, who raised his head and gazed with astonishment at the intruder. Upon his breast the mis- sionary wore a golden crucifix, which seemed to exert some sort of hypnotic power upon the beast, and as his eyes were fixed upon the glittering emblem, Father De Smet came nearer, finally laying his hand upon the bull's head. He then returned to the Indians, who had been intently watching his movements. The chief grasped him by the hand and acknowledged that he had been sent by the Great Spirit.
Father De Smet remained among the Indians of the Northwest for several years. On horseback he traveled over Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and that part of the Dakotas west of the Missouri, and it has been said he "knew every foot of the country." In 1842 he made a trip to Europe to solicit aid for his Indian missions. He came back in 1842, accompanied by one Belgian and two Italian priests and some sisters of Notre Dame as teachers of the Indian children. A little later he was taken from his labors among the red men and sent to St. Louis, where he wrote a number of interesting letters regarding his travels and missionary work. In 1868 he visited the mountains and spent several days at Cheyenne. He discovered and named Lake De Smet, in the northern part of Johnson County, and it is said that he was the first white man to find gold in Wyoming.
JOHN C. FREMONT
John Charles Fremont was born in Savannah, Ga., January 21. 1813. In 1818 his father died and his mother removed to Virginia, where he was educated. At the age of thirteen years he began studying for the ministry. but being of a mathematical turn of mind, became a surveyor instead. In the spring of 1833 he was appointed teacher of mathematics on the sloop of war Natchez. and in July of the same year was commissioned second lieutenant in the topo- graphical engineers. In 1837 he was employed on the survey of a railroad from Charleston to Cincinnati, and in 1840 he was on the geological survey of the Northwest. He then went to St. Louis, where on October 19, 1841, he married Jessie, daughter of Thomas H. Benton, one of the United States senators from Missouri.
Senator Benton was not altogether friendly to the marriage of his daughter with a young lieutenant, but when in 1842 the Government decided to send an expedition to the Rocky Mountains, he secured the command of the expedition for his son-in-law "over the heads of all his superior officers of the engineer corps." The principal object of the expedition was to select sites for a line of military posts from the Missouri River to the mouth of the Columbia, the pur- pose of which was two-fold: First, to protect the fur traders from the encroach- ments of the English fur companies, and second, to encourage immigration to and settlement of the Pacific slope by protecting emigrant trains from Indian attacks.
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Fremont organized his expedition at Chouteau's trading post on the Kansas River, six miles above its mouth. He left there on June 10, 1842, with twenty- two men, and Kit Carson as guide. Carson at that time was thirty-three years of age and had lived the greater part of his life in the West. His home was then at Taos, N. M. He was of slender build, but possessed greater physical strength than many men who were his superiors in height and weight. His courage was proverbial and he was well acquainted with the country through which the expedition was to pass. Ruxton calls him "the paragon of moun- taineers."
Accompanying the expedition were Henry Brant, a youth of nineteen years and a son of Col. J. B. Brant of St. Louis, and Randolph Benton, Fremont's twelve-year-old brother-in-law. Fremont first went to St. Vrain's Fort on the South Platte, not far from the present Town of Greeley, Colorado, arriving there on the afternoon of July 10th, just a month after leaving Chouteau's post on the Kansas. From St. Vrain's he followed the mountains in a northwesterly direction and on the 13th arrived at old Fort Laramie. Two days later the expedition was at Fort Platte, the trading post of Sabille, Adams & Company, at the junction of the Platte and Laramie rivers. On the 28th he came to the place where the trail is crossed by the Platte River and on the 30th he came to the Sweetwater. Moving up the Sweetwater Valley, he passed Independence Rock and Devil's Gate, and on August 8th reached the South Pass. On the 15th he unfurled the Stars and Stripes from the top of the most lofty peak of the Wind River range ( 13,570 feet ) which mountain he christened "Fremont's Peak." Concerning this achievement, Bancroft says :
"Considering that the Government paid all the costs, and that he had an experienced mountain man, Kit Carson, for a guide, it must be admitted that the eternal mountains might be put to nobler use than to perpetuate such achieve- ments."
This was the farthest point west reached by the expedition. Soon after naming Fremont's Peak, the explorer started upon the return trip. He arrived at St. Louis on October 17, 1842, and after a short stay there went on to Washington, where he made a report of his explorations and received authority to conduct another expedition to the mountains the following year.
THE SECOND EXPEDITION
Fremont decided upon Kansas City, Mo., as the rendezvous and starting point of his second expedition and sent word to a number of the men who were with him in 1842 to meet him there in May. In making his preparations early in the year 1843, he obtained from the arsenal at St. Louis a twelve-pounder howitzer and a quantity of ammunition. This came very near getting him into trouble. After he had left St. Louis a letter came from Washington sum- moning him to that city to explain, as the expedition was "to be scientific rather than military." Mrs. Fremont did not forward the letter containing the order, but instead wrote to her husband to lose no time in starting on his expedition.
On May 29, 1843, he left Kansas City with thirty-three men, several of whom had been with him the preceding year. Kit Carson was again his guide, and the naturalist, John K. Townsend, accompanied the expedition. Following
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the route of 1842, Fremont reached St. Vrain's Fort in time to celebrate the Fourth of July there. Some three weeks were then spent in Colorado, exploring the country. On the 26th the men were divided into two companies. Fremont, with thirteen men, moved directly to the Big Laramie River, and Thomas Fitz- patrick, with the remainder of the expedition, was to go by way of Fort Laramie, the Sweetwater and South Pass to Fort Hall.
On August 1, 1843, Fremont arrived at the Medicine Bow Mountains and encamped on the Medicine Bow River. He then moved toward the North Platte River, up the Sweetwater Valley to South Pass, where in his report he says he met on August 4th "a war party of Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians, who had surprised one of the Shoshone villages at Bridger's Fort on Ham's fork on Green River." From the South Pass he followed "the emigrant road to Oregon," until he struck Green River, where he despatched Kit Carson to Fort Hall to make arrangements for a supply of provisions. From the Green River to the Bear River he followed the route taken by Ezekiel Williams in 1807 until he arrived at Salt Lake.
Turning his course northward again, he met Fitzpatrick's party at Fort Hall on September 19, 1843, and on the 22d the entire party left that post for Oregon. They struck the Columbia River and followed that stream almost to the mouth. when they turned southward and on March 8, 1844, arrived at Sutter's fort on the Sacramento River. There Fremont obtained some much needed supplies and after a brief rest resumed his journey. He arrived at St. Louis on August 6, 1844, having been gone for a little more than fourteen months. Nothing had been heard from him for some time prior to his return, and the secretary of war offered to send a company of dragoons in search of him, but Mrs. Fremont declared it was unnecessary, as, if he could not find his way out the dragoons would not be likely to find their way in.
Fremont afterward conducted two expeditions to the Pacific coast, but as neither of them touched. Wyoming they form no part of the state's history. Through his explorations he acquired the sobriquet of the "Pathfinder."
CAPTAIN STANSBURY
In 1849 Capt. Howard Stansbury was commissioned by the United States Gov- erument to explore the Great Salt Lake Valley and make a report on its topography, etc. After performing that duty he was to make a reconnaissance for a railroad route from Salt Lake City to Fort Bridger, and from Fort Bridger eastward to some point in the Platte Valley near Fort Laramie. When the Union Pacific Railroad was built some years later, it followed in general the route suggested by Captain Stansbury, but passes over the south end of the Laramie Mountains instead of going through Cheyenne Pass as he recommended.
At the time of Captain Stansbury's explorations in Wyoming the California gold fever was at its height, and in his report he gives considerable attention to the companies of gold hunters that he saw crossing the plains. The first mention of the Wyoming coal beds may be found in his report, coal being the only mineral mentioned.
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WARREN'S EXPEDITION
Lieut. G. K. Warren of the United States topographical engineers, afterward a general in the Union army in the Civil war, made an exploration of Wyoming from Fort Laramie to the western slope of the Black Hills in 1857. At the Black Hills he was stopped by the Sioux Indians. His report deals largely with the geology of the section through which he passed, particularly the deposits of building stone. He was probably the first man to advance the theory that the valleys of Northeastern Wyoming could be made profitable for farming purposes by irrigation. His report also states that he found gold in paying quantities in places.
CAPTAIN RAYNOLDS
In July, 1859, under orders from the war department, Capt. W. F. Raynolds left Fort Pierre on the Missouri River to explore the country in the vicinity of the Black Hills. In the party were the following scientists: Lient. H. E. May- nadier and J. H. Snowden, topographers ; J. D. Hutton, topographer and artist ; H. C. Fillebrown, meteorologist and astronomer ; Antoine Schonbarn, meteorolo- gist and draftsman; F. V. Hayden, geologist; Dr. F. E. Hayden, surgeon ; M. C. Hines, assistant surgeon. The escort was commanded by Capt. John Mullan.
After exploring and making maps of the Black Hills region, the party pushed on westward and explored the valleys of the Powder and Big Horn rivers. The winter was passed on the Platte River and the next spring Captain Raynolds submitted his report, in which he refers to Jim Bridger as guide and gives an extended account of the geology of the country. He states that gold was found in several places, but as the escort was composed chiefly of adventurers the matter was kept secret for fear they would desert. In his report he also gives the descrip- tion of the "Portuguese Houses" quoted in another chapter.
Through the reports of the explorers above mentioned, the people living east of the Mississippi River obtained a better idea of the character of the western country than they had before entertained, as the earliest maps designated prac- tically all the region west of the Missouri as the "Great American Desert." The success of the Mormons in the Salt Lake Valley, with the opinions of Warren and others that farms could be profitably cultivated in the valleys of the western rivers, taught many that the "Great American Desert" was largely a myth and hastened the day of settlement.
CHAPTER IX
MORMONS AND ARGONAUTS
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE MORMON CHURCH-EARLY MORMON COLONIES-OP- POSITION-THE MORMON BATTALION-WINTER QUARTERS-THE EMIGRATION- THE SCARE OF 1857-58-JOHNSON'S EXPEDITION-WESTWARD HO-THE ARGO- NAUTS-DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA-THE EXCITEMENT-THE OVERLAND ROUTE-SUCCESS AND FAILURE-SUTTER AND MARSHALL.
The story of the Mormon emigration westward is intimately interwoven with the history of the State of Wyoming. That event is more closely related to the settlement of the country than was the emigration to Oregon or California for the reason that quite a number of the Mormons stopped at various places on the way westward and became permanent settlers. In connection with the story of this emigration, although not an essential part of Wyoming's history, it may be of interest to the reader to know something in general of this peculiar sect.
The Mormon Church, or, more properly speaking, the "Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints," was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830. Smith was born at Sharon, Vt., in December, 1805. His mother took a deep interest in religious matters, though at times she was somewhat visionary. It is said that she predicted soon after her marriage that a prophet would come out of her family. When Joseph was about ten years of age the family removed to Palmyra, N. Y., where he acquired the merest rudiments of an education-all the schooling he ever received. In the spring of 1820 a series of religious meetings were held in Palmyra. Toward the close of the revival, Joseph, who had inherited from his mother a fondness for all subjects of a supernatural nature, announced that he had seen a vision, in which two personages appeared above him in the air. "They told me," said he, "to join no denomination, for all their creeds are an abomination in the sight of the Lord."
His second vision came to him on September 21, 1823, about three months before he was eighteen years old. In this vision, according to his account, an angel appeared to him and revealed the hiding place of the golden plates upon which was recorded the history of the ancient peoples of America. The next day, guided by the angel, he went to the hill of Cumorrah, near Manchester, N. Y., and saw the plates, but the angel would not let him take them away. Each year thereafter for three years, on the 22d of September, he visited the place and saw the plates, but each time the angel told him that the time for their re- moval had not yet come. On September 22, 1827, he paid his fourth visit to the place and again saw the golden plates. This time the angel gave him permission to take them away. As they were written in a strange language, he was endowed
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with the supernatural power of translating them into English. More, than two years were spent in this work, but in the spring of 1830 the "Book of Mormon" was published.
EARLY MORMON COLONIES
Converts to the new faith came in considerable numbers and a colony was founded at Kirtland, Ohio. Opposition to the Mormons soon developed and Smith had a "revelation" to go to Independence, Mo., and build a temple. But the Mormons were no more popular in Independence than they had been in Ohio, and in the fall of 1833 they were driven out of the place. They then took refuge in what is now Caldwell County, Missouri, where they founded the Town of Far West and again began the erection of a temple. Once more they be- came unpopular with the people living in the vicinity and Governor Boggs issued a proclamation ordering them to leave the state. They were expelled by force in the fall of 1838 and took refuge at Nauvoo, Ill., which city they founded.
Meantime elders of the church had been sent to Europe for the purpose of winning converts, and about the time the main body settled at Nauvoo they were joined by eight shiploads of converts from beyond the sea. The political leaders of Illinois saw that the Mormons were likely to become a power in public affairs and the Legislature granted them a charter for the Town of Nauvoo "which con- ferred extravagant and dangerous power upon the municipal officials." An Iowa writer says: "Under this charter Nauvoo became a breeding place for outlaws, and probably the true story of all the outrages committed by these outlaws will never be told. Fugitives from justice sought refuge there, and if anyone should be arrested witnesses could always be found to prove an 'alibi.'"
Governor Boggs of Missouri was shot and seriously wounded in 1842, and the attempted assassination was charged against the Mormons because of his procla- mation four years before. An opposition was thus started, which was continued until in January, 1845, when the Illinois Legislature revoked the Nauvoo charter. In the meantime Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum had been arrested and confined in the jail at Carthage, Ill., where both were killed by a mob on the night of June 27, 1844. The loss of their prophet and the continued opposition on the part of the people of Illinois determined the Mormons to seek a more congenial climate.
Brigham Young was chosen as Smith's successor. He divided the "forces of Isreal," as the members of the church were called, into companies of hundreds, fifties and tens, and in the spring of 1846 they began their emigration westward. In their march across Iowa they moved with as perfect a precision as an army of well trained soldiers. By the middle of May, 2,000 wagons and 15,000 Mormons were on their way to the Missouri River. It was a wet, backward spring, the roads in many places were almost impassable and they made slow progress. Several hundred stopped at Garden Grove and Mount Pisgah, in Iowa, for the purpose of raising a crop. On the 14th of June the advance guard, under the leadership of Brigham Young, reached the Missouri River opposite where the City of Omaha now stands and there established a "camp of Israel" until a ferry- boat could be built.
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THE MORMON BATTALION
The war with Mexico was then in progress and the United States Government sent Capt. James Allen to the Mormon camp with instructions to raise a battalion of five companies among the emigrants. The Mormons readily answered the call and the volunteers were organized by Col. Thomas L. Kane, a brother of the Arctic explorer. At Fort Leavenworth each Mormon volunteer received a bounty of forty dollars, which was sent back to his family, Colonel Kane taking it upon himself to see that the money reached its destination. The battalion was assigned to the command of Col. Stephen W. Kearney and marched to Santa Fé, thence to California, where it arrived after the war was over. Some of the Mormons then worked in the construction of Sutter's millrace and were there when the first gold was discovered. Others returned to their families which had been left in the camp on the Missouri River.
WINTER QUARTERS
After the departure of the battalion, those who remained behind, feeling the loss of so many of their best men, decided to establish suitable quarters for the approaching winter. The first step was to insure the friendship of the Potta- watomi and Omaha Indians-the former tribe occupying the lands on the east side of the Missouri and the latter the lands on the west side. A council was held with the Omaha, at which Brigham Young made known the wants of his people. At the close of his remarks, the chief, Big Elk, replied as follows :
"My son, thou hast spoken well. All you have said I have in my heart. I have much to say. We are poor. When we go to hunt game in one place we meet with an enemy, and so in another place our enemies kill us. We do not kill them. I hope we shall be friends. You may stay on these lands two years or more. I hope we shall be friends. Our young men shall watch your cattle. We should be glad to have you trade with us. We will warn you of danger from other Indians."
Young applauded the old chief's speech, but he was not willing to accept a mere verbal promise for the possession of the land. He drew up a formal lease for five years, which was signed by Big Elk and other leading Omaha chiefs. After the council was over the Mormons gave a banquet to the Indians. A ferry was then established across the Missouri and the "Winter Quarters" were located where the Town of Florence, Neb., now stands, about six miles up the river from Omaha. Here the Mormons built several hundred log cabins, nearly one hundred sod houses, and an octagon council house. Mills and workshops were also built and operated. In the fall of 1846 it was estimated that there were fifteen thousand Mormons encamped in the Missouri Valley on the Omaha and Potta- watomi lands. They had raised a crop and, although they divided the products of their gardens and fields with their Indian friends, their industrial activity de- stroyed so much timber and drove away the game that the Omaha chiefs com- plained to their agents. An investigation showed that the Indians had good grounds for their complaints and the Mormons were ordered to vacate the Omaha country.
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THE EMIGRATION
On January 14, 1847, Brigham Young had a revelation to seek a new location farther to the west. It is possible that the order of the Indian agent to vacate the Omaha lands had something to do with the "revelation," but at any rate Oliver P. Gleason, George Chatelaine, Miles Bragg, J. P. Johnson, Solomon Silver and William Hall were appointed a committee by Brigham Young to go on in advance and select a site for the new settlement. This committee reached Fort Laramie in the spring, where they learned something of the Great Salt Lake Valley and employed O. P. Wiggins and Jim Beckwourth to guide them to the place.
Meantime the main body of Mormons did not wait for the return of the committee, but hurried forward their preparations to obey the order of the Indian agent. On April 14, 1847, just three months after Young's "revelation," the first company of 143 persons, three of whom were women, with 73 wagons loaded with provisions and supplies, left the winter quarters for an unknown "Land of Promise." This company was under the leadership of Heber C. Kimball and was accompanied by Brigham Young as far as the Elkhorn River-a distance of about twenty-five miles. A few days later a company of 1,553 persons, with 560 wagons and a number of domestic animals left, under the guidance of John Taylor and Parley P. Pratt. Early in May a third company, numbering 1,229 people, with 397 wagons, under the personal direction of Brigham Young, followed those who had gone before. Heber C. Kimball turned over the command of the first company to Orson Pratt and Erastus Snow and returned to lead another company, which left the winter quarters in July. It consisted of 226 wagons and 662 persons. A week or so later Willis Richards led 526 persons, with 169 wagons, up the Platte Valley, and with the departure of this company the Omaha lands were vacated. Those who did not go west recrossed the Missouri and settled on the Pottawatomi lands in Western Iowa.
As the first company went up the north side of the Platte River, guide posts were set up at intervals for the benefit of those in the rear. On Buffalo skulls along the route were painted the dates when such places were reached, and inside the skulls were placed written communications conveying information as to the route it was intended to follow. Aided by these instructions and the guide posts, Young's company overtook the second detachment near the present boundary line between Nebraska and Wyoming, where both encamped on May 29, 1847. Here an incident occurred that demonstrated Brigham Young's qualifications as a leader. The morning of the 30th was cold and damp and some of the men wanted to wait until the weather conditions were improved before continuing the journey. About half past ten Young, who had assumed command, gave the order to harness up. The response was slow and Young ordered a council to be called. When all were assembled he told the delinquents plainly that he intended to be obeyed, and if they were unwilling to accept his authority they might remain where they were or return east. This little speech had the effect of bringing the recalcitrants into line and by hard traveling Fort Laramie was reached on the Ist of June. James Bordeau, the agent of the American Fur Company, gave the Mormons a cordial welcome and furnished them with some much needed supplies.
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