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Show 52 him. Actually, rumors of the expedition had been circulating in Salt Lake City for several weeks. In his speech of July 5, Brigham Young spoke of the pos- 14 sibility of 2,000 troops being sent into the Territory. And Heber C. Kimball, speaking to a congregation on the same day, claimed that "Mormonism will increase and triumph until every king will be cast down from his throne, and the President of the United States, unless he and the people repent." Kimball continued: "Suppose the Gentiles were to try to put us down, and to kill brother Brigham Young, and me, and brother Daniel p . Wells] and the Twelve Apostles, still there are some fifty or sixty quorums of Seventies that are capable of spreading abroad the kingdom."^ (Italics mine.) News of the coming army did not immediately arouse the Mormon populace to hysteria as one might expect. The Utahns preferred to sit back and take their cues from their leaders. They had been persecuted from the inception of Mormonismy and news of anti-Mormon activities was not uncommon. Such reports had been beard before, and they had been taught that persecution was inevitable for God's chosen people. They were the survivors of many campaigns against them. Apostle John Taylor spoke of the persecution the Saints would endure in the present conflict: "There is no justice for the servants of God," he declared. "If it had been anybody else, they could have it."16 In addition, since the Mormons had been conditioned to expect the second coming of Christ with its attendant upheavals very soon, they were anticipating some great conflict or cataclysm in their lives. At this point, the return to Jackson County could only be accomplished by a some catastrophic event. The Reformation had reaffirmed this in their minds. Although the church hierarchy never officially proclaimed that the hour of deliverance had positively arrived, there can be little doubt, in light of |
