Adventures in Mormon History

On July 24, 1857, the Latter-day Saints learned – in the middle of the 10th Anniversary Celebration – that President Buchanan had ordered an Army to the Utah Territory.  Though they did not know what the Army’s mission or the intent behind the expedition, they learned that the expedition was to be led by William Selby Harney – and the choice of Harney portended the very worst.  In his council, Brigham Young called for a vote on a rather shocking proposal.  He wrote in his journal, “It was carried unanimously that if Harney crossed the south pass the buzzards should pick his bones.” 

But who was General Harney?  Why was his appointment as commander so significant?  Why did it provoke such outrage and desperation from Brigham Young and other Church leaders?  We explore that and more on this episode of Adventures in Mormon History.     

This episode discusses Harney's history in the Mexican American War, and his heroism during the Battle of Cerro Gordo, the eagerness with which he hanged the deserters and traitors of the Saint Patrick Battalion (or San Patricios), the ruthlessness he showed in the Ash Hollow Massacre, and the depravity with which he murdered the enslaved young woman, Hannah, in Saint Louis in 1835.  By 1857, "Squaw Killer Harney" had become infamous.  The Latter-day Saints reacted to word of his appointment with outrage and shock.  They assumed that, under Harney, they would fare no better than the Saint Patrick deserters in the Mexican War, or the Lakota Sioux at Ash Hollow.  They began making preparations for war. 

This episode also includes a recorded rendition of the long-forgotten Latter-day Saint folk song, "Squaw Killer Harney is on the Way."  I realized that it would, in the long run, be less embarrassing to record the song myself than to get someone who could actually sing. 

To learn more about the start of the Utah War, please check out these (excellent!) sources: 

William MacKinnon, At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War (Vol. I and II) (2016).  MacKinnon's work on the Utah War is nothing short of phenomenal.  They are available on Google Books to anyone interested.   Also, I drew on the Forward to Volume I written by Will Bagley. 

Wilford Hill Lecheminant, A Crisis Averted?  General Harney and the Change in Command of the Utah Expedition, 51 Utah Hist. Quarterly 1 (1983).

Thomas E. Cheney, Mormon Songs From the Rocky Mountains: A Compilation of Mormon Folksong (1968).

David L. Bigler, A Lion in the Path: Genesis of the Utah War, 1857-1858, 76 Utah Hist. Q. 1, 5 (Winter 2008), available at https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume76_2008_number1.

In this episode: Brigham Young, George A. Smith, William Selby Harney, Asa Calkin, Jefferson Davis, P. T. G. Beauregard, Mexican American War, Bloody Kansas, Ash Hollow Massacre, Logan Reives, Saint Patrick Battalion, San Patricio Battalion, Battle of Cerro Gordo, Utah Expedition,  the Pig War of 1859.

The Utah War is one of the strangest footnotes in American History, and almost entirely forgotten.  But it was the largest military campaign the United States undertook between the Mexican War and the Civil War.  It took a third of the entire Army (and one lone, dogged Marine) and pitted them against the Latter-day Saint Nauvoo Legion, a force that, according to Historian Bill MacKinnon, was arguably the nation’s largest and most experienced militia.  Ultimately, the conflict would destroy Buchanan’s reputation and push the United States towards disunion and civil war.  On the other hand, it would forever change the Latter-day Saints, beginning a long and painful process to bring them and the Utah Territory under civil, secular authority.     

But what caused the Utah War?  If you had to choose one single reason, it would be “misunderstanding.” This happened most spectacularly in January 1857, when the Utah Territorial Legislature (made up overwhelmingly of Latter-day Saints), began the new year by writing a Petition and Memorial to Congress in Washington D.C.  The request was for Utah to be admitted to the Union as a State.   This petition, however, read in the Capital like a series of wild-eyed threats.   Buchanan, two months later, would send the Army to Utah.

Yet, nobody knew what the Army's mission was to be.  A crusade to slaughter the Mormons, with blood and sword and fire?  Or maybe a mere show of force -- a face-saving demonstration of the Administration's willingness to enforce federal law throughout its newly-acquired territories?  Or something in between?  And was its real purpose to distract the Nation from the slavery conflict raging in Kansas, as Robert Tyler advocated?  Or to dole out  lucrative government contracts and kickbacks, as General Winfield Scott alleged?  On this episode, we explore the (somewhat inscrutable) reasons that James Buchanan launched the campaign. 

To learn more about the start of the Utah War, please check out these (excellent!) sources: 

William MacKinnon, At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War (Vol. I and II) (2016).  MacKinnon's work on the Utah War is nothing short of phenomenal.  They are available on Google Books to anyone interested.   Also, I drew on the Forward to Volume I written by Will Bagley. 

David L. Bigler, A Lion in the Path: Genesis of the Utah War, 1857-1858, 76 Utah Hist. Q. 1, 5 (Winter 2008), available at https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume76_2008_number1.

 
 

In 1923, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – the famous author of Sherlock Holmes –  embarked on a worldwide speaking tour.  But this tour was not to sell books of his famous detective.  Instead, it was to win converts to spiritual,ism – the idea that through seances, knocking, and advances in photography, the living could commune with the dead.  With hundreds of millions grieving in the years following the First World War and the Spanish Flu, Sir Arthur felt that the world needed to hear his message, including the Latter-day Saints of the Salt Lake Valley.   

When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle arrived in Salt Lake City, it was not exactly his first experience with the Latter-day Saints.  In 1887, he published the mystery, A Study in Scarlet – the first adventure of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.  The intrepid Sherlock (using the "Science of Deduction") uncovers the horrors of murder, kidnapping, and forced marriages among the Latter-day Saints in the Salt Lake Valley.  Sir Arthur launched the career of his famous detective, as it were, by playing up the most wild stereotypes of the Latter-day Saints.  But his impression of the Latter-day Saints would undergo a profound transformation, and the author of "A Study in Scarlet," who imagined Mormon Women with faces that only showed "the traces of unextinguishable horror" would come to praise the "brave and earnest women" and the "rugged, hard-faced men" among the Latter-day Saint Pioneers.  

To learn more about the information in this episode, please check out the following (excellent!) sources: 

Michael W. Homer, "Recent Psychic Evidence: The Visit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Utah in 1923," 52 Utah Historical Quarterly 3 (1984), available at https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume52_1984_number3/s/143282.  

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet (1887)

Drew Gilpin Faust, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (2008).

"A. Conan Doyle to Lecture on Psychic Proofs," The Utah Chronicle (9 May 1923), p. 1.

"Spirit Proofs are Advanced," S. L. Trib. (12 May 1923), 1.  

Key Terms: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, Dr. John Watson, A Study in Scarlet, Brigham Young, Latter-day Saints, Polygamy, Utah Territory, Pioneer Museum, Amasa M. Lyman, John A. Widtsoe, Spiritualism, Seance, Ghosts, Spirits, Cenotaph, World War I, Spanish Flu, American Civil War. 

In February 1858, the United States Senate was debating a new bill from the House.  They knew that the Army, under the command of Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston, was on its way to Utah to put down the reported Mormon rebellion.  Now, James Buchanan was asking Congress to approve a second Army of regular troops to Utah.  While the Republic was quickly unraveling between the North and South, everyone seemed to agree that an Army – maybe two – would teach a salutary lesson to the Mormons, a lesson they would not soon forget. 

While the speeches proceeded, a lone Senator sat quickly whittling at his desk. He was dressed in a Cherokee Blanket and a Jaguar Pelt, and one observer described him as a “Magnificent Barbarian.”  The Senator was Sam Houston of Texas, the former governor of the Lone Star State and the victor of the Texas War of Independence.  And in February 1858, Sam Houston would take another brave and lonely stand, urging caution, restraint, and a respect for the rights of the nations’ Latter-day Saints.  

On today’s episode, we remember Sam Houston in the Utah War.  We explore his unusual upbringing (as a runaway, he was adopted into the Cherokee Nation), his experience in the Texas War of Independence commanding the Army that defeated the much-larger Mexican Force, and his friendship with both Apostle George A. Smith and Seth M. Blair, who had fought alongside Houston as a Major in the Texas Rangers.  We discuss the different ways Houston tried to derail the Army Bill, and end with the jaw-dropping speech he gave on February 15, 1857--possibly inspired by the bloody aftermath of the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836 --  in which he warned his fellow Senators of what an all-out war against the Latter-day Saints would really look like.  

For more on Sam Houston in the Utah War, please see this (excellent!) article by Michael Scott Van Wagenen, "Sam Houston and the Utah War," 76 Utah Historical Quarterly 1 (2008), available at https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume76_2008_number1/s/10214875.        

Of all the people to go down as villains in the history of the Latter-day Saints, perhaps none were as colorful as the infamous W. W. Drummond, Federal Judge of the Utah Territory in 1855.  Arriving with a flamboyant woman whom he introduced as Mrs. Ada Drummond, the Judge immediately set out to cut away at the legal foundations of the Latter-day Saint settlements up and down the Utah territory - their probate courts, their water claims, timber claims, grazing claims, and their right to incorporate cities at all.  

In this episode, we will explore how Judge Drummond abandoned his post and made his way  to New Orleans, where he launched an all-out assault against the Latter-day Saints in the press, in lobbying Government officials, and angling to replace Brigham Young as Utah's Governor.  Church Agents George A. Smith, Thomas Kane, John Taylor and William Appleby - noted with alarm that Drummond was fast becoming one of the most popular men in the country, and public opinion was quickly turning against the Mormon People.  Thomas Kane then decided to conduct a gum-shoe investigation into Drummond's past.  Who was the flamboyant woman that accompanied the Judge everywhere he went?  Where did they meet?  Was she really his wife?  This investigation would take LDS Leaders into the seedy streets of Baltimore, where they would make contacts with the Madams of the city's numerous bordellos.  But it was one thing to find the truth, another thing to convince the public it was true, and yet another thing to get the public to care.  On today's episode, we conclude the colorful story of W.W. Drummond -- the Runaway Husband, Runaway Father, and Runaway Judge.  

To learn more about the stories in and material in this podcast, please see these (excellent!) sources:

Ronald W. Walker, "Proud as a Peacock and Ignorant as a Jackass: William W. Drummond's Unusual Career with the Mormons," 42 J. of Mormon Hist. 3, 1 (July 2016).  

At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858, Vol I and II (ed. William MacKinnon), 2008.  

*  On a personal note, William ("Bill") MacKinnon was kind enough to correspond with me while I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2019.  An Air Force Veteran himself, he very generously sent me copies of hitherto-unknown primary sources, topics of future interest, and thoughts on a wide array on early aspects and figures in Utah History.  His enormous body of scholarly work on the Utah War is simply incredible.   

Key Terms:  William Drummond, Ada Carroll, "Skinny Ada," Brigham Young, John Taylor, John Burnhisel, Federal Judges, Utah Territory, Deseret, William "Wild Bill" Hickman, Levi Abrams, Cato, Posse, Native Tribes, Indian Wars, Jail, Writ, Habeas Corpus.

Note: This episode includes Drummond's line on first seeing Mary Fletcher, "You are the same person I saw a few nights since in a dream!  Is it possible that I am going to love a  [hussy?]"  In the interests of our younger listeners, I substituted his actual word with the term "hussy."  See Ronald Walker's excellent article to get the actual quote.  
 

Of all the people to go down as villains in the history of the Latter-day Saints, perhaps none were as colorful as the infamous W. W. Drummond, Federal Judge of the Utah Territory in 1855.  Arriving with a flamboyant woman whom he introduced as Mrs. Ada Drummond, the Judge immediately set out to cut away at the legal foundations of the Latter-day Saint settlements up and down the Utah territory - their probate courts, their water claims, timber claims, grazing claims, and their right to incorporate cities at all.  

In this episode, we will explore how Judge Drummond earned the contempt of the Latter-day Saints in a number of ways, from his barely-veiled desperation to hang someone--anyone--to his flirting with and mutual teasing with Ada, who sat next to him on the bench (even during death penalty cases), to becoming the first judge to be himself arrested and thrown into jail for assault with intent to commit murder, and finally how--in his bumbling efforts to flex the power of the federal courts, he unintentionally sparked a war with the Native Tribes of Utah, resulting in 8 Latter-day Saints killed and the loss of 150 head of cattle.  

To learn more about the stories in and material in this podcast, please see these (excellent!) sources:

Ronald W. Walker, "Proud as a Peacock and Ignorant as a Jackass: William W. Drummond's Unusual Career with the Mormons," 42 J. of Mormon Hist. 3, 1 (July 2016).  

At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858, Vol I and II (ed. William MacKinnon), 2008.  

*  On a personal note, William ("Bill") MacKinnon was kind enough to correspond with me while I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2019.  An Air Force Veteran himself, he very generously sent me copies of hitherto-unknown primary sources, topics of future interest, and thoughts on a wide array on early aspects and figures in Utah History.  His enormous body of scholarly work on the Utah War is simply incredible.   

Key Terms:  William Drummond, Ada Carroll, "Skinny Ada," Brigham Young, John Taylor, John Burnhisel, Federal Judges, Utah Territory, Deseret, William "Wild Bill" Hickman, Levi Abrams, Cato, Posse, Native Tribes, Indian Wars, Jail, Writ, Habeas Corpus, 

The 1830s were a time of great religious enthusiasm across the United States and saw scores of ladies take up the call to travel from place to place, preaching faith, repentance, and the coming of judgment.  Among these women was the New Hampshire-born Nancy Towle, who traveled across the United States and the British Isles.  A fiery preacher with a will of iron, she let anyone within earshot hear her message of repentance-- a message that could, at times, sound like harangues, brimstone, and torrents of abuse.  On today’s episode, we explore:

- Her 1818 call to join the small but determined band of female itinerant preachers;
- Her 1829 mission to England and Ireland
- Her arrest for obstructing the roads and disturbing the peace and the thrill at the prospect of being jailed "for Christ Jesus' sake" 
- Her sea voyage on a "floating hell," with a narrow escape from being thrown overboard by a "merciless, accursed crew"  
- Her efforts to get into the infamous Newgate Prison and preach to the prisoners under sentence of death
- Her observations of three young Englishmen hanged for forgery and housebreaking
- Her prophesy against the English Nobility 
- Her confrontation with early Latter-day Saint Leaders Martin Harris, William W. Phelps, Sidney Rigdon, and Joseph Smith.  

For more information on this episode, please check out the following sources: 

Nancy Towle, "Vicissitudes Illustrated, in the Experience of Nancy Towle, in Europe and America (1832).  

Richard Bushman, "Joseph Smith - Rough Stone Rolling: A Cultural Biography of Mormonism's Founder" (2005).  

Bailey, Judith Bledsoe, ""Faithful Child of God": Nancy Towle, 1796-1876" (2000). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects; Paper 1539626243.

From the fall of 1838 through the Spring of 1839, Joseph Smith and other Church Leaders were confined in the Liberty Jail.  They had several attorneys defending them, including Peter Burnett, a Missouri lawyer and--incidentally-- one of the Missouri militiamen who had marched against the Latter-day Saints at Far West.  

In this episode, we discuss Peter Burnett's account of defending Joseph Smith.  Latter-day Saints are familiar with the harsh conditions of the Liberty Jail, but Burnett's account highlights an aspect of the experience that is less well-known: that Joseph and the other prisoners were in constant danger of being lynched by mobs, and they were particularly vulnerable during court hearings and while being moved to and from the jail.  Burnett's account highlights the heroism of Joseph's team of country lawyers, scratching out a living in a lawless frontier, and taking a stand for the rule of law against the murderous mob.

We recount one pre-trial hearing where the prisoners and their attorneys were in imminent danger of being dragged out of the Liberty Courthouse and hanged.  Yet Burnett and Doniphan would not back down.  Burnett recounts how he drew his pistol and told his co-counsel, "Doniphan, let yourself out [i.e., give it all you've got], my good fellow.  I will kill the first man who attacks you."  And Doniphan proceeded to give the one of the most noble, withering arguments, growing bolder as the crowd grew more incensed.    

He also describes the stream of curious visitors that came to the Davis County Jail to gawk at the famous Joseph Smith.  These visits led Joseph into theological debates and, memorably, a wrestling match against the best fighter of Davis County.  

Burnett also leaves an incredible summation of his client's physical appearance, mannerisms, and character.  While Burnett had much criticism of Joseph's way of speaking, his lack of education, and his awkward way of expressing ideas, "with all these drawbacks," he wrote, "Joseph Smith was much more than an ordinary man."   

For more information contained in this episode, please check out:   Peter Hardeman Burnett, Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer (1880), available at https://www.loc.gov/item/01006673/  

Search Terms:  Joseph Smith, Peter Burnett, Alexander Doniphan, Mormon War, Missouri Persecution, Clay County, Davis County, Liberty Jail, Lyman Wight, Sidney Rigdon, Samuel Lucas, court-martial,  lynch mobs, Country Lawyers

Latter-day Saints remember the conflict that has come to be known as the "The Mormon War” in Missouri in 1838.  Places like Haun’s Mill, Far West, Clay County witnessed violent and savage persecutions against the newly organized Church, and Latter-day Saints have worked hard to preserve the stories and the voices of the saints who lived through them. 

But what was it like to muster into the Missouri militia and move against Far West?  On this episode, we will explore the Mormon War from the perspective of Peter Hardeman Burnett (1808 - 1895).  A farmer, a clerk, a lawyer and, eventually, a Soldier in the Missouri militia, Burnett describes what led to the conflict and relates his experience serving under Brigadier General Alexander Doniphan (1808-1887).   What may be surprising to modern readers, Burnett does not shy away from candidly describing a fact often left out of such memoirs-- Burnett and the men of his company were terrified of the Mormons.   Even so, Burnett was a believer in the rule of law.  In the critical moment when church leaders Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdeon and others were about to be tried by court-martial and executed, Burnett assured Doniphan that he and the men of Clay County would stand by him in opposing the court-martial, a plan Doniphan denounced as "cold-blooded murder."   

To learn more about the materials in this episode, please check out:

Peter Hardeman Burnett, Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer (1880), available at https://www.loc.gov/item/01006673/ 

Search terms:  Peter Hardemen Burnett, Clay County, Mormon War, 1838, Lyman Wight, Missouri Frontier, David Patton, Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Battle of Crooked River, Alexander Doniphan, Samuel Lucas, Samuel Bogard, Davis County, Ray County, Frontier, Court-Martial.   

Latter-day Saints are familiar with the Joseph Smith’s account of his First Vision in the year 1820.  Less well known, however, are the remarkable dreams of his father, Joseph Smith Senior.  In the years leading up to his son’s first vision, Joseph Smith Senior had seven dreams in which, as he described, a messenger came to him, instructed him, and helped prepare him for what lie ahead.  On today’s episode, we will explore Lucy Mac Smith’s account of these dreams.  

To learn more about the material in this episode, please check out the following sources: 

Lucy Mac Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother (1853).

Richard L. Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling: A Cultural Biography of Mormonism's Enigmatic Founder (2005). 

Mary Jane Woodger, Ken Alford, and Craig Manscill, "4 Prophetic and Beautiful Dreams from Joseph Smith's Parents," LDS Living (24 August 2019), available at https://www.ldsliving.com/4-prophetic-and-beautiful-dreams-from-joseph-smiths-parents/s/91423