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51 an d F o r t P u e b lo . Q Though most o f t h e B a t t a l i o n members were n o t f a v o r a b l y im p r e s s e d w i t h th e Mexican l i v i n g c o n d i t i o n s i n S a n ta F e, some o f them comment on t h e adobe and must have become aware o f i t s u t i l i t y . The o f f i c i a l B a t t a l i o n r e c o r d e r d i s p a s s i o n a t e l y n o te d t h a t " t h e h o u s e s [ o f S a n ta Fe] w ere g e n e r a l l y s m a l l and s q u a t t y . . . . They were b u i l t o f a d o b ie s o r unburned b r i c k o f a v e ry l a r g e s i z e " ( T y l e r , 1 6 4 ), A n o th e r s m a l l gro up t h a t had j o i n e d t h e v a n g u a rd band o f Mormons i n t h e S a l t Lake V a lle y h a d a r r i v e d from C a l i f o r n i a 9 w i t h Samuel B ran nan . A f t e r s p e n d in g t h e p r e v i o u s y e a r i n C a l i f o r n i a , B rannan was p r o b a b ly b e t t e r a c q u a i n t e d w ith t h e Mexican adobe th a n anyone e l s e who a r r i v e d i n t h e S a l t Lake 8W hile a t W in te r Q u a r t e r s , N e b ra s k a , t h e Mormons w ere a sk e d by +he U. S. Army t o a i d i n t h e s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t Mexico by s u b m i t t i n g 500 t r o o p s f o r e n l i s t m e n t . The t r o o p s which C hurch o f f i c i a l s a g r e e d t o sen d w ere known a s th e Mormon B a t t a l i o n . D uring t h e f a l l and w i n t e r o f 1846-47 t h e B a t­ t a l i o n m arched from F o r t Leavenw orth t o S a n ta Fe a n d u l t i ­ m a te ly t o San D iego. The s i c k d e ta c h m e n t was a grou p of a b o u t f i f t y u n a b le t o c o n t i n u e t h e m arch and was t h e r e f o r e m u s te re d o u t o f d u ty a t S a n ta Fe; t h e y s p e n t th e w i n t e r o f 1846-47 a t t h e Mormon s e t t l e m e n t n e a r F o r t P u e b lo and j o i n e d t h e f i r s t com panies o f S a i n t s i n Wyoming en r o u t e t o S a l t Lake V a lle y . ^Samuel B ran n an i n 1845 was a s s i g n e d t o l e a d a grou p o f Mormons from Nauvoo t o New York a n d t h e n c e t o San F r a n c i s c o by s h i p a ro u n d Cape H orn. B r a n n a n 's gro up a r r i v e d a t San F r a n c i s c o Bay on J u l y 31, 1846, and re m a in e d f o r more t h a n a y e a r a w a i t i n g an o r d e r from Brigham Young t o j o i n t h e main body o f S a i n t s i n t h e S a l t Lake V a l l e y . I t is in te re stin g to n o te t h a t t h i s grou p o f Mormons was among t h e f i r s t s e t t l e r s i n C a l i f o r n i a t o b u i l d h o u s e s m a in ly of lo g and lum ber and was v e r y i n f l u e n t i a l i n s e t t i n g a "y an k ee and w e s te r n " p a t ­ t e r n o f f o l k a r c h i t e c t u r e which s u b s e q u e n t l y became im p o r ta n t i n C a l i f o r n i a ( K i r k e r , 2 6 - 2 8 ) . But t h e r e was an exchange of i d e a s , a s w e l l . Mormons t h e r e n o t o n ly c o n t r i b u t e d t o a new f o l k b u i l d i n g knowledge i n C a l i f o r n i a , b u t t h e y l e a r n e d t h e o l d Mexican m ethods o f making a n d b u i l d i n g w ith ad o b e. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.