The Rocky Mountain Saints/Chapter 40

The visit of Col. Kane to Governor Cumming was eminently successful. On the 3rd of April his Excellency informed Gen. Johnston, that he was ready to proceed to Salt Lake City to assume the duties of his office; and two days later, accompanied by Col. Kane, he set out from Camp Scott.

After all the violent speeches against the advance of the troops, and the repeatedly expressed determination of Brigham that he would never permit them to enter the city, and that he would send back Governor Cumming, it is interesting to note the facts as they actually transpired.

As soon as the Governor passed beyond the Federal military lines he was met by a Mormon escort, and was the recipient of all the honours the militia could heap upon him. His passage from Camp Scott to Salt Lake City was one grand ovation of loyalty and profession of respect for the person of the chief representative of the Government.

The country was in a condition of war, and as no official steps had been yet taken to bring it to a close, his Excellency was too much of a gentleman to think of travellin through Echo Cañon during the day, as it was obvious that he would then have every facility for taking notes of the enemy's fortifications! Travelling by night afforded "the boys" every op​portunity for showing the Governor what a formidable place the United States troops would have to pass through, and that would certainly not fail to impress him still more favourably with the advantages and necessity of peace.

From one end of the cañon to the other great fires could be seen at night on the hill-sides and on the mountain-tops, representing the works and bivouacks of a great army, while the lurid flames of the pine-tree fires rendered the darkness still more impressive, and conveyed to the bewildered Governor the idea that near at hand there was a mighty host under arms.

The military chieftains managed to keep his Excellency in a continued strain of feverish expectation. At every important bend of the road the Governor and his escort would be suddenly challenged by the pickets, and the countersign demanded. On one occasion there was a call to arms, and a mock effort at hostility, but some of the principal officers arrived just in time to save his Excellency's life, and to call off the pugnacious militia, and hinder them from taking him prisoner! At several of the principal posts the Mormon troops would be called together to salute the Governor as he passed, and to listen to his kindly words. Soon after that he would again be detained by other pickets, while the militia which he had addressed but a few minutes before had an opportunity, in the darkness of the night, of passing by unobserved, and were ready to salute him again, and listen to another address, at a succeeding stage of the journey. In this way the new Governor of Utah was impressed with the idea that the men under arms numbered several thousands, while probably at that time there was not more than a couple of hundreds.

In course of time he discovered how the Mormon leaders had imposed upon him and amused themselves with his credulity, and he was ever afterwards unpleasantly reticent when the affair was mentioned. Although subsequently upon friendly terms with Brigham, he could not forget the incidents of his passage through the cañon by night, and to the last hour that he was in the Territory he felt annoyed at having been so absurdly deceived, and held Brigham responsible for the mortifying joke.

​On the 12th of April, Governor Cumming reached the city, where he was kindly welcomed by the leading men of "the kingdom," and escorted to the most comfortable quarters in the city—the residence of elder Wm. C. Staines, an intelligent gentleman and faithful disciple of the Prophet. Among the first to salute the new Governor and to do him honour was his Excellency Governor Young.^[1] Governor Cumming was perfectly delighted, and "the Utah war" was practically at an end.

From the time that the Federal troops left the States, all mail communication with Salt Lake across the Eastern plains was entirely stopped; but by a singular inadvertence, the mail service to and from the Pacific Coast was continued uninterruptedly, and through this channel the success of the mission of Colonel Kane was communicated to the Government.

On the very day that Governor Cumming entered Salt Lake City and Brigham had remitted to him the executive seal of the Territory, President Buchanan appointed Gov. L. W. Powell, of Kentucky, and Col. Ben. McCulloch, of Texas, commissioners to repair to Utah as bearers of a pardon from Washington for all offences committed during the rebellion, if those in arms would accept of the clemency of the President, and return to their allegiance to the Government.

The course of Governor Cumming was a great annoyance to the other Federal officers, but to that his Excellency was perfectly indifferent. He was fully conversant with the programme that had been traced out in Washington, and afterevents in the adjustment of the Utah difficulty verified the correctness of his judgment. The movements of Col. Kane in Utah, and the action of President Buchanan at the seat of Government, were perfectly harmonious, and coincided with an accuracy which was altogether remarkable.

Chief-Justice Eckels tried to reach something by his court against the Mormon elders, and General Johnston was fast ​completing the preparations for his advance upon the enemy, but it was all to no purpose. Three days after his arrival in the city his Excellency notified General Johnston that he had been fully recognized as the Governor of the Territory, and was in the full and unmolested discharge of his duties, and that therefore the presence of the army in Salt Lake City was altogether unnecessary.

The commander of the army fully comprehended that as a posse comitatus at the call of the Governor, no requisition was ever likely to be made. He had, however, direct instructions from the Secretary of War about establishing military posts in Utah, and with these the Governor could not interfere.

On the first Sunday after the Governor's arrival among the Saints a great meeting was convened in the Tabernacle, and Brigham Young introduced Governor Cumming to the congregation. Another feature of the "Utah rebellion" was now to be developed.

It was ridiculous to expect Brigham Young to publicly back down and eat the humble pie of submission. He was a Prophet in the eyes of the Saints, and the position in which he stood was one of world-wide notoriety. It was absolutely necessary that some plan should be adopted whereby he might escape the difficulties which surrounded him. President Buchanan, too, was before the world, and he had to be saved from the appearance of folly in the beginning and weakness in the ending of "the Utah rebellion." Diplomacy was again the order of the day.

The proceedings in the Tabernacle were all an understood thing. An apostle reviewed Mormon history and pictured "the persecutions of the Saints," from the tarring and feathering of Joseph Smith in 1830 to the annulling of the mail contract in 1857. The Government was denounced and berated for sins of omission and commission, the last of which was the appointment of "a Missourian" to govern the Mormons.

The new Governor was almost beside himself at the indignity offered to him after all he had done to bring about peace. He called out in the congregation that he was no Missourian: "I am a Georgian, sir, a Georgian, sir." The ​error was immediately corrected and the ruffled Governor was gently soothed and pacified. After that, one speaker after another arose in the congregation and in a state of excitement denounced the Government and the Federal officials who had been in the Territory. There was, in fact, a general denunciation of the enemies of the Saints and a reiteration of their determination, if need be, to fight for their rights. One of the most amusing features of that well-arranged comedy was the speech of a very eloquent Irishman who had been but a few years in the new world, who, with a "brogue" which was in every way most marked and distinguishable, contended for his "rights." His forefathers had, he said, fought and bled for American liberty, and he would be an unworthy scion of such illustrious sires did he not contend for the right to worship God according to the sacred birthright of every American freeman.^[2]

Brigham was seated beside the Governor on the platform, and tried to control the unruly spirits who were clamourous for their "rights." Governor Cumming may for the moment have been deceived by this apparent division among the Mormons, but three years later he told the Author that it was all of a piece with the incidents of his passage through Echo Cañon. He fully comprehended it. In his characteristic brusque way he said: "It was all humbug, sir; all humbug; but never mind, it is all over now. If it did them good, it did not hurt me. Brigham Young is a smart man—smart man, but he may yet find out that other people are not so blind as he may think they are. Smart man! but he doesn't know everything."

The Governor's report to President Buchanan, in the light of the facts stated, is very amusing. Of his journey he says:

"I left camp on the 5th, en route for this city, accompanied by Colonel Kane as guide, and two servants. . . . I was escorted from Bear River Valley to the western end of Echo Cañon—the journey through the cañon being performed, for the most part, in the night. It was about eleven o'clock when I arrived at Weber Station.

"I have been everywhere recognized as the Governor of Utah, and, so far from having encountered insults and indignities, I am gratified in being ​able to state that, in passing through the settlements, I have been universally greeted with such respectful attentions as are due to the representative of the executive authority of the United States. . . . .

"When it was arranged with the Mormon officer in command of my escort that I should pass through Echo Cañon in the night, I inferred that it was with the object of concealing the barricades and other defences. I was therefore agreeably surprised at the illumination in honour to me. The bonfires kindled by the soldiers, from the base to the summit of the hills, completely illuminated the valley, and disclosed the snow-covered mountains which surrounded us."

Before anything was learned upon which to base a well-grounded hope of a peaceful adjustment of the difficulty between Brigham Young and the Government, "counsel" had been given to the Saints to vacate the city and to move southward. Obedient to this "counsel," the people gathered all that they could take with them "upon wheels"—personal property and effects, household goods, and articles of daily use, and leaving all their possessions as best they could, they prepared for another exodus.

Before turning the key of the outer door for the last time, straw, wood, shavings, and everything combustible, were massed in heaps and placed throughout the houses, so that if it became necessary to burn the city, the work of destruction would be so speedily executed that there would remain no shelter for the advancing enemy, or their camp-followers. Less than a score of men were left behind to apply the torch, and repeat upon a small scale the tragedy of Moscow, should it become necessary.

Such a "sublime illustration of faith" has been frequently descanted upon, and it is really a very pretty subject to talk about; but when the threatening language of Brigham about "shearing down" all who would not commit their homesteads to the flames is remembered, the heroic devotion said to be displayed is not so clearly visible. This episode in Mormonism exhibits at least how easily the people can be manipulated by their rulers, whether from convictions of faith, from fears of violence, or from both.

On the 7th of June, the Peace Commissioners Powell and McCulloch arrived in the city. Previous to this, Brigham was advised of the nature of their mission, and was in possession ​of a copy of President Buchanan's proclamation of pardon. Notified of their presence, he returned from the southern country, whither he had gone with the fleeing Saints, and met the Commissioners in conference on the 11th and 12th in Salt Lake City. Speeches similar to those first listened to by Governor Cumming were made in the hearing of the Commissioners, and were duly reported by them in the following language:

"They denied that they had ever driven any officials from Utah, or prevented any civil officer from entering the Territory. They admitted that they burned the army trains, and drove off the cattle from the army last fall, and for that act they accepted the President's pardon. All the charges that had been made against them, except the one last named, they denied. . . . . We are pleased to state that the conference resulted in their agreeing to receive, quietly and peaceably, all the civil officers of the Government, and not to resist them in the execution of the duties of their offices; and to yield obedience to the authorities and laws of the United States.

"That they would offer no resistance to the army; that the officers of the army should not be resisted in the execution of their orders within the Territory. In short, they agreed that the officers, civil and military, of the United States, should enter the Territory without resistance, and exercise, peaceably and unmolested, all the functions of their various offices."^[3]

Unable now to prevent the advance of the army, the Mormon leaders requested that the troops should not be permitted to camp within the city, nor near to any of the settlements. The Commissioners were non-committal in promises, but used their good offices with General Johnston to meet the wishes of the Mormons, and prevent the army from committing any injury to the property of the citizens.

Immediately on learning that it was feared the troops might retaliate for their sufferings during the winter, the General issued a proclamation assuring the people that no one should be "molested in his person or rights, or in the peaceful pursuit of his avocations." On the same day the Governor ​officially announced "the restoration of peace to the Territory."

Captain Marcy had arrived at Camp Scott on the 8th of June with about fifteen hundred horses and mules, and an escort of five companies of infantry and mounted riflemen,^[4] and, with the addition of the animals which he brought to what had been preserved during the winter, the expedition was soon ready for marching orders.

On the 13th, General Johnston's army began to move forward in three columns. They passed through that much talked-of Echo Cañon, and were greatly amused with the Mormon defences. On the morning of the 26th the United States troops emerged from the Emigration Cañon into Salt Lake Valley, directly east of Salt Lake City, and, despite of the numerous predictions of "the servants of the Lord" to the contrary, the national standard was unfurled to the breeze, and under its starry folds, with full equipment of arms and munitions of war, the Federal army, in all the glory and pride of unconquered warriors, marched through the streets of Zion, and passed before the mansion of the "Lion of the Lord."

A correspondent with the army thus pictures the occurrence:

"It was one of the most extraordinary scenes that have occurred in American history. All day long, from dawn till after sunset, the troops and trains poured through the city, the utter silence of the streets being broken only by the music of the military bands, the monotonous tramp of the regiments, and the rattle of the baggage-wagons. Early in the morning the Mormon guard had forced all their fellow-religionists into the houses, and ordered them not to make their appearance during the day. The numerous flags that had been flying from staffs on the public buildings during the previous week were all struck. The only visible groups of spectators were on the corners near Brigham Young's residence, and consisted almost entirely of Gentile civilians. The stillness was so profound, that, during the intervals between the passage of the columns, the monotonous gurgle of the city-creek struck on every ear. The Commissioners rode with the General's staff. The troops crossed the Jordan and encamped two miles from the city, on a dusty meadow by the river-bank."

​The permanent location of the camp was a matter of deep concern to the Mormon leaders. Afraid that General Johnston would choose Cache Valley—eighty miles north of Salt Lake City—and concluding that he was certain to refuse what they commended, they were very urgent in representing the desirability of that place. Cedar Valley, forty miles west of the city, was chosen, and their camp was named after Mr. Floyd, the Secretary of War, and as there were few settlements in that direction and very few improvements in the immediate locality, the Mormons were fully satisfied with Camp Floyd.

After resting three days on the banks of the Jordan while the permanent camp was being selected, the army again took up its march, and moved slowly southward from the city to the ridge of the basin called "The Point of the Mountain," and then moving westward, crossed the Jordan and a low range of the Oquirrh Mountains, reaching camp on the 6th of July. Notwithstanding all the vandalism, death, and destruction that was ascribed to the mission of the army, their march through the settlements was unmarked by the first act of violence. "Not a field was encroached upon, not a house molested, not a person harmed or insulted by troops that had been so harassed and vituperated by a people now entirely at their mercy. By their strict subordination they entitled themselves to the respect of the country, as well as to the gratitude of the Mormons."

What an eventful year this had been to the Saints! On the 24th of July—less than a year before—Brigham at Big Cottonwood Lake had hurled defiance at the Government, and declared "the kingdom" independent. The Tabernacle for months resounded with great swelling words. The promises of "the Lord" that victory should be for "Israel" had been reiterated in the pulpit and from the press and sung in rhyme, times without number! Predictions of defeat, disgrace, and destruction had been hurled at the army. The nation was ridiculed and its rulers anathematized, while the thread was severed for ever between the Saints and the Gentiles. "The Lord" was to come out of his hiding-place to vex the nation, and to make bare His arm in the overthrow of those arrayed against Zion. The Federal army was to waste away and per​ish, and on no account was it ever to enter the sacred city—the Prophet's habitation. By the end of twelve months all this was falsified by facts, and Brigham who uttered and the people who listened to these glorious predictions were unhappily fleeing from their homes, and seeking the "dens and caves of the mountains." What a lesson!

The flight of the Mormons from Salt Lake City and the neighbouring settlements was heart-rending to witness. The poor people—and the great mass of them were very poor indeed—were utterly destitute. There had been for years but very little money in the country, and that little reached only the hands of the few who could trade and speculate.

For many years in Utah a coin of any kind was seldom seen by the farming and labouring classes. Labour was exchanged for labour, and "store-pay" was the best that the produce of the field and garden could command. When "counsel" was given to "move south" the people were reduced to the greatest extremity to furnish themselves with the means of transportation. Fraternity is beautiful in Sunday sermons, but in a time of flight that sentiment is too frequently exchanged for sauve qui peut, for those from whom most might have been expected, by way of generous aid, too often take advantage of the necessities of others to "drive very hard bargains." One very prominent gentleman to-day in Salt Lake City owes the foundation of his fortune to the high prices that he obtained for old wagons "at the move."

Governor Cumming was greatly touched at the sight of the fleeing Mormons. The sad impression made upon his mind was often revived—especially when his Excellency was a "little happy." Then he would tell the story of poverty and rags, of "the poor women and innocent children" travelling barefooted and covered with dust, till they looked more like Indians than Caucasians. The old gentleman's eye would fill with tears, his lips compress, his head nod, and he would mutter: "Terrible sight!—hope never to see the like again—Brigham Young, imprudent man—must never do it again—but it is all over now!"

The Governor followed his "constituents" fifty miles south, beseeching them to turn back, and representing to them that ​there was no danger to be apprehended from the troops; that their homes would be preserved, and that they would be unmolested; but it was to no purpose. As well say to the tidalwave: "Hitherto shalt thou go, but no further." The Governor and the Peace Commissioners spoke in vain. The power that led away the Mormons from their firesides alone could send them back again.

At Provo, on the 5th of July, Brigham announced his intention to return to Salt Lake City, and, left the people at liberty to do as they pleased. In a few hours afterwards the greater number were on the march home. Many who had exhausted their resources in going south were unable to return immediately, and some remained permanently where the flight had landed them.

In this memorable flight there were probably no less than 30,000 persons on "the move south," from the latter part of March till the beginning of August.