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Show directed Silas Richards "to take 3 little orphan sisters" whose parents had died on the plains. The orphan girls exemplified the debilitated condition of the new arrivals. Richards explains: \ c, .. _~('-:' -:·'!he children are very poor from suffering with cold d~,e'( hunger and the want of proper nourishment and clothing. None of them are able to walk across the house without difficulty. Susannah's feet are badly frost bitten. Their only clothing being some remnants of summer apparel, no shoes or woolen stockings. They are very feeble and require much attention. U On November 30, Silas Richards noted: "Last handcarts arrived, many frosted feet among them. (Little girls gaining fast.)"" The efforts on the part of Union Ward members to exercise their faith was evident in the Reformation of 1856. But it did not stop there. The settlers of Union continued to display their ideals by assisting in the Mormon immigrations of 1861,1862, and 1863. They helped in "gathering the poor saints from the various nations of the earth," wrote Union's bishop. During each of those years, teamsters from Union drove wagons and teams from the Salt Lake Valley to the Missouri River and back. It took about five months to make the trip. E. W. Howell, Darius (S.) Clements, Henry (H.) Wilson, William A. Boggess, and Alonzo Van Valkenburg served as teamsters from Union." Latter-day Saints labored hard to keep the spiritual qualities of Mormon ideals but the Mormon temporal sanctuary was jeopardized in the late 1850's. Misguided federal authority threatened the Mormons. A study of early Utah Territorial politics will explain how Mormons resisted this outside intervention. At the close of Brigham Young's first term as governor, Colonel Edward J. Steptoe of the United States Army, was selected to replace himY On April 6, 1855, Warren Foote declared: "Colonel Steptoe is in Salt Lake City with about 300 soldiers. He has been offered the governership [sic] of Utah. It is very doubtful if he accepts it."" Foote was right. Steptoe declined the offer. Furthermore, sources noted that Steptoe and Chief Justice Kinney "headed a petition .. , asking forthe reappointment of Governor Young." The petition proved fruitful, In 1855 President Franklin Pierce continued Brigham Young as governor of Utah Territory," As governor, Young's policies often clashed with those of the non- ana 38 Mormon federal authorities in the Utah Territorial administration, One historian asserts that new appointees were "outspoken and were fearful of the power exercised by Young as both governor and church president." By early 1857, many of the federally appointed territorial officials had left Utah, Their criticisms ranged from Indian policies to land surveys. The non-Mormon appointees returned to Washington and began "circulating their complaints" against Utalms. 20 ' An "unusual and extraordinary snowstorm" ushered in the year 1857.21 This storm proved to be symbolic of events soon forthcoming. In March, James Buchanan took office as President of the United States. LDS author B. H. Roberts claimed Buchanan was led to believe that "the maintenance of the supremacy of the federal authority in the territory of Utah ... was questioned" by . the people of Utah. Roberts assel@)haf Buchafia:ri"wasatSoiedto-· ?~,c believe, albeit on insufficient grounds, a substantial rebellion --("/ / 2Z existed" in Utah. By the end of May the president had decided to ' . z;.-~, replace Brigham Young as governor and to send military troops to ,~~ '( Utah to put down the alleged rebellion. The military expedition consisted of one third of the nation's total standing army. Buchanan failed to inform Brigham Young that he was to be , replaced as governor, and that the purpose of the expedition was to support a new governor in office.Z3 News of the expedition came to Governor Young and the saints "like a clap of thunder in a clear sky."24 On July 23, Brigham Young led a large concourse of Mormons to Silver Lake at the head of Big Cottonwood Canyon to celebrate the anniversary of the arrival of the pioneers into Salt Lake Valley. Forty-seven members . of the Union Ward attended the grand picniC "in the tops of the mountains." Union's bishop was in attendance at the grand celebration. His journal entry shows that about noon the next day, "Bp. A. O. Smoot, Judge Elias Smith, Judson Stoddard, and O. P. Rockwell rode into camp bringing the news that troops were coming from the States sent by the General Government. It was the first tidings of war."u Bishop Richards described the events further : General [Daniel H.J Wells was soon boosted high up on a large rock and delivered an undaunted speech, and the jubilee of the people swelled into a sublime declaration 39 |
