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Show 144 was a lieutenant in the Legion in one of the Cedar companies, and has unfortunately been linked to the Mountain Meadows massacre. Johnson was married and was the father of two small children at the time of the expedition. James H. Martineau was his brother-in-law. Nephi Johnson wa6 a fearless explorer and frontiersman, and, like so many others notables of the White Mountain Expedition, he was thoroughly devoted to the Mormon faith.21 One of the more unusual characters to enlist for this expedition was Asahel Bennett. Like Martineau, the Wisconsin native had come to Utah with the Forty-niners. But Bennett did not stay. He became a member of the infamous Death Valley company which attempted to traverse the Great Basin west of present- day Cedar City in search of the Walker cut-off. Before embarking on this disaster, the unlucky Bennett was baptized while passing through Salt lake.2 2 After an unsuccesful stint in the gold fields, he turned to farming near the mouth of the Salinas River. Soon after the death of his wife in 1857, Bennett was persuaded that a small fortune could be made in Utah by taking a stock of hard-to-get dry goods with him. He arrived at Cedar City in the fall and quickly remarried. During the winter it was reported that he would be going into the desert with a company from Cedar to salvage the iron from the wreckage of the wagons that were abandoned on the trail in 1849. 3 it is believed Bennett was about fifty years old at the time of the expedition. His knowledge of the desert region west of Cedar City was considered to be of significant value to the company organizing at the springs.2 4 Others of note to become members of the expeditionary force were Don C. Shirts of Harmony, an Indian interpreter and son-in-law of John D. Lee; Francis Hamblin of Fort Clara, the brother of the legendary Jacob Hamblin; and Ross R. Rogers who led the Beaver City contingent to Iron Springs. And there was also the elderly Samuel Sheppard of Beaver City who was affectionately called "Father |