Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive

Faculty Publications

2012

What's in a Name? The Establishment of

Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D. Brigham Young University - Utah, [email protected]

William P. MacKinnon Independent Historian

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BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Alford, Kenneth L. Ph.D. and MacKinnon, William P., "What's in a Name? The Establishment of Camp Douglas" (2012). Faculty Publications. 1709. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/1709

This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Stephen Arnold Douglas (1813–61), the deceased U.S. senator from for whom Patrick Connor named his new post outside Salt Lake City. Douglas was Connor’s political hero but either a maladroit or deliberatively provocative choice for namesake in view of his status as former chief political rival to President Lincoln and bête noire to Brigham Young since his June 12, 1857, “loathsome ulcer” speech in Springfield at the beginning of the Utah War. () CHAPTER 10

Kenneth L. Alford and William P. MacKinnon

WHAT’S IN A NAME? the establishment of Camp Douglas

Since my arrival the people of the Territory have been treated kindly and courteously by both my officers and men, who have never given one of them cause for complaint, which the people freely acknowledge. But notwithstanding this, the courtesy we have given is returned with abuse. —Colonel Patrick Edward Connor, U.S. Army March 15, 18631

amp Douglas is the only military installa- BACKGROUND Ction in the United States sited purposely Brigham Young and his Latter-day Saint so that soldiers could keep a watchful eye on pioneers first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley the American citizens outside its gates. The in July 1847. Folklore has it that Young said establishment and naming of this post on at that time, “If the United States will now the bench above Salt Lake City is a colorful, let this people alone for ten years to come, but little known, story of the American Civil we will ask no odds of them or any one else War. Utah is generally viewed as a backwater but God.”2 In 1857, exactly ten years later, of the Civil War, but events in the territory President James Buchanan moved to replace played an important supporting role and Brigham Young as Utah’s first governor and were surprisingly laced with conflict. While organized an expeditionary force of several Camp Douglas (later renamed Fort Douglas) thousand soldiers to escort his successor experienced a long and colorful history that to Utah while restoring federal authority has continued into the twenty-first century, in a territory perceived as rebellious. After this essay focuses on the short period between harassment of the approaching army by the the camp’s founding in October 1862 and the territorial militia, the evacuation of northern end of the Civil War. Utah, discussions between Brigham Young 154 Kenneth L. Alford and William P. MacKinnon and federal peace commissioners, and the which for three years past has resounded issuance of a blanket presidential pardon with the orgies of the ungodly and become for Utah’s entire population, the conflict was a nest for every unclean thing, has reverted settled peaceably with Brigadier Gen- to its wonted quietude and simplicity. Some- eral Albert Sidney Johnston’s forces marching times I regret that I never visited it; yet at quietly through Salt Lake City in June 1858.3 other times I feel grateful that I have kept The soldiers then established Camp Floyd myself entirely aloof from Gentile influences (named after John B. Floyd, President Buchan- and associations.”8 an’s secretary of war) forty miles southwest While some residents celebrated the post’s of Salt Lake City, the nation’s largest garrison closing, others questioned the wisdom of the until the outbreak of the Civil War.4 Civilian decision. A New York Times writer predicted relations with Camp Floyd were sometimes that “the removal of the small force from Utah strained, but they resulted in economic ben- will prove a fatal blunder, as it will leave the efits for many Utah residents. Camp Floyd great overland routes to California and Ore- was renamed Fort Crittenden,5 in honor of gon unprotected, and invite aggression both U.S. senator John J. Crittenden, after Secretary from lawless Mormons and hostile Indians.”9 Floyd resigned in disgrace in December 1860 When increased Indian activity and attacks and joined the Confederacy. The camp’s dis- along the Overland Trail followed the with- tance from Salt Lake City was probably viewed drawal of soldiers from Fort Crittenden, it favorably by most of the city’s residents. soon became apparent that military action was In 1861, when the first shots in the Civil required to protect the trail. Brigham Young War were fired, Utah found itself at a stra- and territorial federal officials suggested that tegic crossroads—mail, telegraph lines, gold “a regiment of mounted men be raised”10 to from California, silver from the newly cre- protect the mail, emigration, and telegraph ated Nevada Territory’s Comstock Lode, and routes. The government initially rejected emigrants all needed to pass freely through their offer “because it is not supposed so large Utah Territory, but regular U.S. troops were a force is necessary.”11 On April 28, 1862, needed in the East far more than they were though, by “express direction of the Presi- required at Fort Crittenden. In May 1861, dent of the United States,” Brigham Young, the War Department “issued orders for the then a private citizen but still President of the immediate withdrawal of all the regular LDS Church, was authorized to “raise, arm, troops from New-Mexico and Utah.”6 Auc- and equip one company of cavalry for ninety tions held in June and July disposed of reus- days’ service.”12 The government’s request able building materials (lumber, windows, specified that “the company will be employed doors, and so forth), and the remaining adobe to protect the property of the telegraph and walls were left to the elements.7 Fort Critten- overland mail companies in or about Inde- den was evacuated and closed. The soldiers pendence Rock [Nebraska Territory], where garrisoned there marched east during July. depredations have been committed, and will One Salt Lake resident’s August 1861 letter be continued in service only till the U.S. summed up the feelings of many Utah resi- troops can reach the point where they are so dents: “The troops are gone. Camp Floyd, much needed. . . . It will not be employed for the establishment of Camp Douglas 155 any offensive operations other than may grow out of the duty hereinbefore assigned to it.”13 The requested soldiers mustered within two days, an extraordinary feat of orga- nization. Under the command of Captain Lot Smith, who had won fame as a militia major during the Utah War, the company of about a hundred men left Salt Lake City in early May 1862 for three months of active duty military service. In late August 1862, after this volunteer company had returned to Utah, Union General James Craig, who was responsible for the overland mail and telegraph lines from the Missouri River to Utah Territory, telegraphed Secretary of War

Stanton and requested either reinforcements Patrick Edward Connor, the Irish-born commander of California from the States or permission to “re-enlist the Volunteers who established Camp Douglas in October 1862 while Utah troops for a limited time.”14 Secretary incurring the enmity of Brigham Young in a way that Albert Sidney Johnston had not. After the Bear River Massacre of Janu- Stanton answered the following day, “You are ary 1863, the army promoted Connor from colonel to brigadier authorized to raise 100 mounted men in the and in 1865 made him a major general in part to encourage his resignation after his controversial Powder River campaign. He mountains and re-enlist the Utah troops for remained in Utah to stimulate an inflow of non-Mormons moti- three months as requested.”15 After confer- vated by mining opportunities. (Utah State Historical Society) ring with Brigham Young, Utah’s Governor Harding informed the army that reenlistment the vicinity of Salt Lake.” According to orders of Lot Smith’s company was not possible received in July 1862, his primary mission as because, as Harding cryptically phrased it, a newly commissioned colonel was “to pro- “Things are not right.”16 Consequently, federal tect the Overland Mail Route”18 and “also military leaders determined that dispatching the telegraph stations.”19 Connor’s com- volunteer units from California would be a mand arrived at Fort Churchill (near Reno, more permanent military solution to the need Nevada Territory) in August 1862, where to protect commerce and emigration along Colonel Connor assumed command of the the Overland Trail. The state of California military district of Utah, which included Utah was asked to recruit sixteen thousand volun- and Nevada Territories.20 teers, some of whom would be sent to Utah.17 In May 1862, Brigadier General George ESTABLISHMENT Wright, commander of the army’s Department OF CAMP DOUGLAS of the Pacific in San Francisco, appointed Utah residents had done too good of a ­Patrick Edward Connor, a California militia job dismantling Fort Crittenden after the officer, to command several companies of Cal- army blew up its magazines and marched ifornia volunteers (or CVs, as they were often east. Nearly everything of value had been called) to travel from Stockton, California,­ “to removed. Little did they know that the army 156 Kenneth L. Alford and William P. MacKinnon

A prime mission of Connor’s California Volunteers was to protect from Indian attack the transcontinental telegraph line, completed in Salt Lake City exactly a year before their arrival there. Although they tried to destroy the line, the tribes (and others) marveled at the way it worked as depicted in Henry Farney’s classic 1904 painting, The Song of the Talking Wire. (Wikimedia) would return in strength at the end of the fol- the west, there was great concern. A New York lowing year, and the poor condition of Fort Times report from Salt Lake stated, “There Crittenden would influence the selection of may be still another jurisdiction conflict in the army’s new encampment elsewhere. our midst, and perhaps a very pretty quar- In the fall of 1862, Colonel Connor trav- rel. . . . Let us hope for the best, particularly eled in advance of the army to the Salt Lake in the present juncture of affairs, and that Valley from Fort Ruby, Nevada Territory, in peaceable counsels will prevail.”22 order to select a route and scout out the best After visiting the former Fort Crittenden, site for a military camp near the city. Wearing Colonel Connor reported to his superiors civilian clothing, he “took a stroll about town several reasons for not reopening it. First, the and looked around with an air of familiar- camp was “in ruins” except for a few build- ity that indicated that after all Salt Lake City ings (for which the owner wanted $15,000). was something of a place, and might not be Second, most of the few remaining buildings unpleasant notwithstanding its desert sur- “would have to be torn down and removed.” rounding.”21 Apparently during this recon- Third, “the post is badly located.” His fourth, naissance, Connor met with neither Governor and most important, reason was that “I found Stephen Harding nor former governor Young. another location, which I like better.” That When word reached Utah that the army site was “on a plateau about three miles from would soon be returning, but this time from Salt Lake City; in the vicinity of good timber the establishment of Camp Douglas 157 and saw-mills, and at a point where hay, grain, and other pro- duce can be purchased cheaper than at Fort Crittenden.” Colonel Connor also revealed an addi- tional unofficial rationale for the new location—keeping an eye on the Mormons. Connor reported to his superior that the site he selected was “a point which com- mands the city, and where 1,000 troops would be more efficient than 3,000 on the other side of the Jordan [River]. If the general decides that I shall locate there, Connor’s first notification to army headquarters that he had established Camp I intend to quietly intrench my Douglas. Here it is clear that the siting and naming of the post were solely his deci- position, and then say to the sion. Seeking a site within artillery range of Brigham Young’s Lion House—soon a widely-believed myth—was not part of Connor’s stated rationale. Saints of Utah, enough of your (Cornell University Library) treason; but if it is intended that I shall merely protect the overland mail and and formed two lines in front of Governor permit the Mormons to act and utter treason, ­Harding’s residence. After being introduced then I had as well locate at Crittenden. The by Colonel Connor, the governor addressed Federal [civilian] officers desire and beg that the troops. While standing in a carriage, he I will locate near the city.”23 confessed to the soldiers, “I have been disap- On October 1, 1862, a few days prior pointed, somewhat, in your coming to this to entering the Salt Lake Valley with his city,” and noted somewhat disapprovingly soldiers, Colonel Connor reported that “the that the federal government “knows not the people of Utah are under the impression spirit of the officers who represent it in this that I am to winter at Fort Crittenden.”24 He Territory.”27 Accordingly, he finished by telling also informed his superiors that he had been them, “I do not know now what disposition is “credibly informed by letter this morning that to be made of you, but I suppose you will be the flag-staff at Fort Crittenden was cut down encamped somewhere, I know not where, but since my visit and hauled away by Brigham’s within a short distance of this city. I believe the orders.”25 Connor quite likely viewed this as people you have now come amongst will not an affront to federal authority and a misuse of disturb you if you do not disturb them.”28 government property.26 Colonel Connor and his mixed command NAMING CAMP DOUGLAS (five infantry and two cavalry companies) Following the governor’s speech, the bivouacked at Fort Crittenden on ­October 17, California soldiers marched to the base of 1862, and marched into Salt Lake City the mountains east of the city “between Red on October 22, 1862. The soldiers halted But[t]e and Emmigration Kanyons [sic].”29 On 158 Kenneth L. Alford and William P. MacKinnon

Tensions between Salt Lake City and Camp Douglas began almost immediately and were possibly fueled by Connor’s deci- sion to name the new post as he did. The military correspondence for the fall of 1862 clearly indicates that the choice of names was Connor’s—he dubbed the post Camp Douglas rather than being directed to do so by General George Wright in California or by an even higher authority in Wash- ington. In fact, Wright did not even know at this point that Connor was establishing a new post, having assumed that he would be using the remnants of old Camp Floyd in distant Cedar Valley. So why would Colonel Connor—a man patently on the rise with even higher military aspirations—make such a politically maladroit name selection given the Democratic Party identification of Stephen A. Douglas vis-à-vis the prominent Republican Party affiliations of Secretary of

The pamphlet published by Douglas in enormous quantity to War Stanton and President Lincoln? The broadcast his June 12, 1857 speech in Springfield, Illinois on, late senator Stephen A. Douglas was the among other subjects, “the Mormon problem.” The speech, slave-holding Democrat who beat Abraham impromptu remarks originally intended to entertain a bored grand jury, triggered a rebuttal by Abraham­ Lincoln two weeks Lincoln in the 1858 Illinois senate race later—­precursor to the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates—and after nine face-to-face debates and against long-lasting Mormon enmity when press reports reached Utah in late August 1857 as the Utah Expedition crossed the Plains. whom the Republican Lincoln ultimately tri- (Internet Archive) umphed in the presidential election of 1860. Connor’s naming decision for Camp Douglas is even more astonishing when one considers October 26, 1862, Colonel Connor formally that the three U.S. Army posts in Utah Ter- announced that “pursuant to orders from ritory established by Albert Sidney Johnston department headquarters a military post is during the late 1850s prior to Camp Douglas hereby established at this camp, to be called were dubbed with political astuteness Camp Camp Douglas.” The boundaries of the camp Winfield and Camp Scott (after the general- began “at a post due north one mile distant in-chief) and Camp Floyd (in honor of the from the garrison flag-staff, and running thence then-sitting secretary of war). For Connor to west one mile, thence south two miles, thence have honored Stephen A. Douglas in this way east two miles, thence north two miles, and is akin to a scenario in which during 2003 thence west one mile, to the place of begin- General Tommy Franks would have named ning, containing 2,560 acres more or less.”30 his Baghdad headquarters “Camp Al Gore.” the establishment of Camp Douglas 159

The relatively meager collection of was the daily chaffing of a few Mormon ­Connor’s personal papers that have survived sensibilities.”33 the ravages of fire, multiple relocations, Logical as Varley’s conjecture seems, an and the passage of time offers little help in examination of Brigham Young’s correspon- understanding his naming decision. In Glory dence and the files of the Deseret News for Hunter, his 1990 biography of the general, the fall of 1862 yields no outbursts about the Brigham D. Madsen­ notes that Connor had post’s name, although there was a great deal long been an admirer of Senator Douglas and of resentment and muttering about the more even before entering the army had raised fundamental issue of its very establishment funds to finance the erection of a statue in and siting without Mormon consultation. his honor in Stockton. Madsen commented, But what of Varley’s quite accurate point “The new colonel never forgot his loyalties.” about a highly negative Mormon reaction to With respect to the naming decision, Mad- Douglas early in the Utah War? The cause of sen’s book comments without citation that this rupture was a speech given by Douglas ­Connor vetoed the desire of his men to name in Springfield, Illinois, on June 12, 1857, two the post after himself, and that his choice weeks after the launch of the Utah Expedi- of the admired Douglas’s name was “under- tion and soon after his return from Wash- standable.”31 E. B. Long’s 1981 account of ington. It was a strange speech—delivered Utah during the Civil War, The Saints and in impromptu fashion at the invitation of the Union, describes at length the initial a sitting grand jury in search of entertain- tense approach and passage of Connor’s unit ment—in which Douglas ranged through through Salt Lake City to the site of Camp three of the most volatile subjects of the day: Douglas but is mute on why the post was so the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision, named, as was Major Fred B. Rogers’s 1938 “bleeding” Kansas, and Utah affairs. When it study Soldiers of the Overland.32 came to Mormon matters, Douglas may have In his 1989 book Brigham and the Briga- been stimulated by bitter private inputs from dier, James F. Varley discerns a motivation recently resigned Utah associate justice W. very different from Madsen’s belief that W. Drummond of Illinois, his constituent, as Connor intended simply to honor the late well as by the sting of Republican efforts to Senator Douglas. Noting the uneven nature portray Douglas’s pet doctrine of popular sov- of relations between Douglas and the Mor- ereignty (local choice) as a de facto defense mons during their Illinois years and the of polygamy, if not slavery, in the territories. fact that Mormon leaders were “incensed” After reciting the then-current litany of accu- by an anti-Mormon speech that Douglas sations against Utah’s Mormons—principally had given at the very beginning of the Utah disloyalty and un-American backgrounds and War, Varley speculates without supporting tendencies—Senator Douglas’s Springfield documentation that “the choice of names speech advocated the repeal of Utah’s organic was undoubtedly a deliberate jab by Colonel act and therefore her territorial obliteration. Connor at the Mormons. . . . Patrick Connor For the remedy, Douglas used graphic, surgi- thus could hardly have chosen a better name cal imagery: “When the authentic evidence than Douglas for his new post if his object shall arrive, if it shall establish the facts which 160 Kenneth L. Alford and William P. MacKinnon

get into the [presidential] chair of State, and that is what he is after: he will try to accom- plish that, if he goes to hell the next day; but he will not go into the chair of State; he will go to hell.”35 Even with the passage of years, Brigham Young continued to brood over what he viewed as Senator Douglas’s betrayal. In May 1861, he wrote a caustic, mocking unpublished letter to a gravely ill Douglas reminding him of his 1857 Springfield speech as well as of his role in the disruption of the Union then so violently in progress. With Douglas’s failed 1860 presidential bid and Joseph Smith’s apocalyptic 1843 proph- ecy about Douglas’s political fate in mind, President Young closed, “Do you not begin to realize that the prediction of the Prophet Joseph Smith, personally delivered to you, has been and is being literally fulfilled upon your head? Why have you barked with the dogs, except to prove that you were a dog with them?”36 The velvet glove which Major General Henry W. Halleck (1815–72) served for almost two years as general in chief of all U.S. armies. (Library of Congress) Brigham Young had earlier used in dealing with Douglas as chairman of the U.S. Sen- are believed to exist, it will become the duty ate’s Committee on the Territories was off. of Congress to apply the knife and cut out Within a month—even before receiving this this loathsome disgusting ulcer. [Applause.] letter—Stephen A. Douglas lay dead in Chi- No temporizing policy—no half-way mea- cago, with Fort Sumter in Confederate hands sure will then answer.”34 and Patrick Edward Connor of Stockton, With this political betrayal and provoca- California, about to join the . tive language, Douglas was immediately Shortly after Senator Douglas’s death, a assigned to a place in the LDS pantheon New York Times correspondent reported from of Utah War villains, second only to Judge Salt Lake City that “last Wednesday the Pony Drummond, and he remains there. In the [Express] told us of the death of Senator midst of the Utah War, First Counselor Douglas. The Mormon portion of the com- Heber C. Kimball stated publicly: “Many of munity entertain certain hard recollections you have sustained Judge Douglas as being of the Senator, on account of his ‘loathsome a true friend to this people; and he is just ulcer’ recommendations. So there are no flags as big a damned rascal as ever walked, and at half mast, no mourning appears, no tears always has been. He has taken a course to are shed, no tokens of respect for the memory the establishment of Camp Douglas 161

Camp Douglas (later designated Fort Douglas) shown in the busy 1860s. Later the post morphed from an installation for the regular army into the headquarters for the Utah National Guard, a POW camp, a troop processing/training base, Olympic Village for the 2006 winter games, and housing for the University of Utah. (Fort Douglas Military Museum) of the illustrious Illinoisan are visible, though In the months following the establishment an old neighbor in Nauvoo days.”37 and naming of Camp Douglas, the Overland Mail Company, the Post Office Department, TENSIONS BEGIN and Department of the Interior all urged Four days after Colonel Connor officially ­Connor’s superiors, including General christened Camp Douglas, Brigham Young Henry W. Halleck (President Lincoln’s gen- complained that “right in the time of war there eral in chief), to move Connor’s soldiers from could not be a greater insult offered” than the Salt Lake City to Fort Bridger, Utah Territory, federal government sending another army to presumably because of that post’s proximity Utah. Strangely, Young suggested that with to the Overland Trail.39 As a compromise, Connor’s selection of the site for Camp Doug- Connor was ordered to detach one or two las overlooking Salt Lake City, “they are in the companies from his command to occupy best place they can be in for doing the least Fort Bridger. Echoing Colonel Connor’s injury. . . . Here they cannot do much hurt.” anti-Mormon sentiments, General Wright He also quoted an associate as recently having informed his superiors in Washington, DC, said, “We are praying all the time for the Lord “Without entering into details I am well to make fools of them.”38 convinced that prudential considerations 162 Kenneth L. Alford and William P. MacKinnon demand the presence of a force in that coun- to which Brigham Young reportedly replied, “I try [Salt Lake] strong enough to look down hope the brethren will keep their families from any opposition.”40 Utah governor Stephen S. that camp [Douglas]. . . . Let them [soldiers] Harding also recommended that Colonel come and say, ‘Will you sell me a bushel of Connor’s command remain at Camp Doug- potatoes?’ Then come[s] the answer, ‘Do you las: “I have not a doubt but that it will be want me to take the oath of allegiance? If you the last time that U.S. soldiers will have the do, go to hell for your potatoes.’”44 privilege of entering this Territory peaceably Soldiers found Salt Lake City the obvious if Colonel Connor is now ordered away. I do location to spend their pay. In December 1862, not say that Mormons would meet our troops the army “disbursed among them the snug openly in such an attempt, although there are sum of $74,000, so that they can now rejoice strong reasons for believing that they would, in being paid up. . . . The shopkeepers of this yet I have no doubt but the Indians would be city are doing a heavy business. The stores are encouraged to do so, and all possible succor thronged most of the day, and ‘greenbacks’ are would be given them by the [Mormon] pow- more plentiful than blackberries in this Ter- ers here. . . . The base of operations should ritory.”45 Businesses, some of a questionable be here. . . . In the [proposed] withdrawal nature, also began to spring up around the of the troops the General Government vir- borders of the camp, and as the New York Times tually abandons her sovereignty over this reported, “It is really too much to suppose that Territory.”41 every officer and private is entirely unimpress- The army’s late arrival in 1862 required it ible when Bacchus and Venus hang out their to work hard throughout the winter building colors. . . . Col. Connor, at a dress parade temporary facilities at the new camp. By Feb- on Monday, declared, by special order, that ruary 1863, Colonel Connor reported that his the military reserve [reservation] connected troops had built thirteen small officers’ quar- with the post above-named, was extended to ters, a guard house, a bake house, a commis- embrace an area of four miles square.”46 sary, quartermaster offices, stores, stables, a There were apparently few, if any, dis- blacksmith shop, and a hospital. The enlisted cussions between Colonel Connor and Salt soldiers lived in “temporary shelters of tents Lake civic authorities regarding either the placed over excavations four feet deep, with original location or expanded dimensions of good stone and adobe fireplace.”42 Camp Douglas. Much of the newly extended Camp Douglas proved to be a source of camp boundaries were within the corporate welcome income for many civilian residents. limits of Salt Lake City—then being chal- While many supply items were received from lenged by the Interior Department’s General the States, the military purchased tons of Land Office—which undoubtedly did not locally produced hay, barley, oats, potatoes, sit well with city authorities, but there was and cattle, among other products. In accor- little they could do. Other problems arose dance with Colonel Connor’s strong Unionist during the next few months as the city and views, all contractors supplying items to Camp camp struggled to accommodate each other. Douglas were “required to take the oath of Camp Douglas was just six months old when allegiance to the United States Government,”43 a grand jury of the U.S. District Court for the establishment of Camp Douglas 163 the Third Judicial District of Utah Territory as a people were driven from our homes in (with Latter-day Saint Apostles George A. Illinois; traversed an almost trackless desert Smith and Franklin D. Richards serving as and settled in these distant valleys; a constant the foreman and a jury member, respectively) effort has been made by wicked and design- was empanelled in Salt Lake City to consider ing men to disturb our peace and interfere Camp Douglas’s “notoriously offensive or with those religious rights secured to us by . . . obnoxious and revolting” water usage the Federal Constitution. We have neither practices. The grand jury declared that Camp time, space, nor inclination to review the Douglas was abusing Red Butte Creek—the wrongs and insults that our bodies, and we primary water supply for at least three thou- as a people have suffered. They are all mat- sand downstream Salt Lake City residents. ters of history; delineating them will present Soldiers were accused of having “placed one of the darkest pages ever recorded of any obstructions in the stream; [having] built religious people.”48 privies on or close to one of said streams of The early history of Camp Douglas may be water, and in divers other ways have the said viewed, in large measure, through the inter- troops and those [civilians] following them action between two strong personalities— . . . fouled the water thereof, and rendered Brigham Young and Patrick Connor. Connor it extremely filthy and nauseous, to the great was seen by himself and many others as a true inconvenience of the people of the said city, patriot. A self-made Irish immigrant, he vol- and deleterious to their health.”47 The army untarily left his family and a very comfortable also prevented residents from taking their life in California to serve his nation. Brigham livestock up Red Butte Canyon to graze dur- Young’s feelings regarding soldiers being sent ing the summer months. again to Utah might be summed up in the opening words of the proclamation he issued FRICTION BETWEEN to the “Citizens of Utah” in declaring martial CHURCH AND STATE law five years earlier, on September 15, 1857: Economic tensions were exacerbated by historical and philosophical differences For the last twenty-five years we have between the Church and the U.S. govern- trusted officials of the government, ment. Relations between the two parties had from constables and justices to judges, been mixed since the Church’s founding in governors and presidents, only to be 1830. Latter-day Saints viewed themselves scorned, held in derision, insulted and as loyal Americans with a firm dedication to betrayed. Our houses have been plun- and belief in the Constitution of the United dered and then burned, our fields laid States. Several federal actions, though, were waste, our principal men butchered not viewed favorably by the Saints. With a while under the pledged faith of the likely eye to President Van Buren’s unwilling- government for their safety, and our ness to protect Mormons in Missouri and families driven from their homes to President Polk’s recruitment of the Mormon find that shelter in the barren wilder- Battalion in 1846, a March 1863 article in ness and that protection among hostile the Deseret News proclaimed, “Ever since we savages, which were denied them in 164 Kenneth L. Alford and William P. MacKinnon

the boasted abodes of christianity and as a citizen I have nothing against him, he civilization. wants to kill the truth, and sacrifice every vir- The Constitution of our common tue there is upon the earth that God has estab- country guarantees unto us all that we lished, that is what makes me hate him. He is do now, or have ever claimed. If the con- nothing to me as a business man. . . . But as an stitutional rights which pertain unto us individual I have not the least feeling against as American citizens were extended to him.”51 The clash of temperament between Utah, according to the spirit and mean- Young and Connor was mutual—neither of ing thereof, and fairly and impartially them made much of an effort to disguise their administered, it is all that we could dislike and distrust of the other. ask, all that we have ever Colonel Connor’s supe​ asked.49 rior, General Wright, reported, “Brigham Young As he had done dur- was exceedingly anxious ing the Utah War, Brigham that the troops should reoc- Young sought during the cupy Fort Crittenden or 1860s to demonstrate his some point remote from loyalty to the Constitution, the city, but after mature although that loyalty rarely consideration I came to the extended to federal officials conclusion that the site of charged with administering the present camp was the the government that sprang most eligible for the accom- from it. When the transcon- plishment of the objects in tinental telegraph reached view. It is a commanding Salt Lake City in Octo- Brigham Young, former governor and position, looking down on ber 1861, for example, one still de facto ruler of Utah Territory when the city, and hence has been ­Connor and the California Volunteers of the first messages sent arrived. Offended by their unannounced dreaded by the Mormon by Brigham Young affirmed arrival, Young considered them an chief.”52 unwanted, threatening alien presence in that “Utah has not seceded, Utah’s midst and refused to countenance Colonel Connor saw it but is firm for the Constitu- further recruiting for the Union Army. as his responsibility to do tion and laws of our once (Photo by Charles William Carter, Harvard something about the Mor- Art Museum) happy country.”50 mons. As early as Septem- Brigham Young had little patience for ber 1862, his official reports began to include General Connor. Discussing the army’s pres- complaints about Mormons and Mormonism. ence in Salt Lake City, Young once observed According to Connor, Mormons were “a com- in a report to Utah’s Legislative Assembly that munity of traitors, murderers, fanatics, and “there is not one soul of them [Camp Douglas whores”53 who were “composed chiefly of the soldiers] that I would not take into my house very lowest class of foreigners and aliens . . . if they were perishing in the street,” and then , hesitating at the commission of no crime.”54 he added “even Gen. Connor.” He reportedly He believed Mormons permitted an “unholy, continued, “I do not know the man [Connor]; blasphemous, and unnatural institution”55 the establishment of Camp Douglas 165 and that “if the crimes and designs of this laws and best interests of the nation”; therefore, people were known and understood by the he sought “by every proper means in my power people of the United States as I understand to arrest its progress and prevent its spread.”61 and know them, it would cause such a burst He initially believed there were but two ways to of indignation as would result in the utter resolve the problems and influence of Mormon- annihilation of this whole people. . . . The ism: “First, by dividing the Territory into four sooner we are rid of the evil, and the nation parts and adding the parts to the four adjoining of the stigma [of Mormonism], the better it Territories; second, by declaring martial law.”62 will be for us. . . . Individually I would prefer By dividing the territory, he hoped to weaken to serve in another field. At the same time both Brigham Young and Salt Lake City’s influ- there is much to do here, and it would give ence on the surrounding regions. me great pleasure to contribute my humble A few months later, he came to see a services to blot out this stigma on our national third way—“inviting into the Territory large honor.”56 numbers of Gentiles to live among and dwell It was not just the religious tenets of with the people.” To accomplish this end, he Mormonism that bothered Connor. He saw “considered the discovery of gold, silver, and Mormons as “disloyal almost to a man, and other valuable minerals in the Territory of the treason, if not openly preached, [was] covertly highest importance,” and he “instructed com- encouraged.”57 In Connor’s eyes, “the so-called manders of posts and detachments to permit President Young” was “engaged in mounting the men of their commands to prospect the cannon for the purpose of resisting the Gov- country in the vicinity of their respective posts, ernment.”58 He reported that the Mormons whenever such course would not interfere were “hard at work making cartridges” and with their military duties, and to furnish every that Brigham Young had placed a “guard of 300 proper facility for the discovery and opening men” at his home with which, from Connor’s of mines of gold, silver, and other minerals.”63 perspective, he could attempt to resist federal Connor, who is recognized today as the “father authority.59 of Utah mining,”64 believed that by encourag- Camp Douglas was a thorn in Brigham ing “gentiles” (non-Mormons) to settle and Young’s side, and Connor knew it. In Decem- mine in Utah, “the Mormon question [would] ber 1862 Connor reported, “My present posi- at an early day be finally settled by peaceable tion [at Camp Douglas] was selected for its means, without the increased expenditure of availability, and commanding as it does not a dollar by Government.”65 His belief in this only all the avenues to but even the town itself, policy was so strong that by spring 1864, he it is an important one, and I am not surprised directed some of his subordinate commanders that Brigham Young considers its occupancy to “devote most of [their] attention” to the dis- dangerous to his interests.”60 Connor’s view covery of new mines.66 In a sense, Connor was was that “Mormonism as preached and prac- filling a vacuum, given Brigham Young’s well- ticed in this Territory is not only subversive of known hostility to mining as an inappropriate morals, in conflict with the civilization of the activity for Latter-day Saints. present age, and oppressive on the people, but The military blamed increasing tensions also deeply and boldly in contravention of the with Salt Lake inhabitants on “the open 166 Kenneth L. Alford and William P. MacKinnon declarations of hostility to the Government on one hundred men to guard the mail the part of their public men, and their bold, route, we at once enlisted the one hun- continued, and unceasing teachings of disloy- dred men for ninety days. On Monday alty” which Patrick Connor stated “time and evening I received the instruction, and again tended to produce excitements leading on Wednesday afternoon that hun- to collision, which have only been avoided by dred men were mustered into service the most temperate and moderate course of and encamped ready for moving. But the officers and men of my command.”67 all this does not prove any loyalty to March 1863 was a particularly tense political tyrants. period in the relationship between Salt Lake We guarded the mail route. . . . We City and Camp Douglas. Several events and do not need any soldiers here from any beliefs contributed to the heightening of ten- other States or Territories to perform sions—chief among them was concern that that service, neither does the Govern- the army was planning to arrest Brigham ment, as they would know if they were Young.68 Colonel Connor became alarmed wise. . . . on March 3 and again on March 4 when What can we do? We can serve “Brigham caused to be removed from the God, and mind our own business; Territorial arsenal to his residence all the keep our powder dry, and be prepared ordnance and ordnance stores, and placed a for every emergency to which we may large body of armed men in his yard, which be exposed, and sustain the civil law to is inclosed with a high stone wall.”69 Con- which we are subject. . . . nor was uncertain whether Young’s actions Now, as we are accused of seces- and intent were defensive or offensive. On sion, my counsel to this congregation March 8, Brigham Young spoke in the Taber- is to secede, what from? From the nacle and discussed the loyalty of the Saints, Constitution of the United States? No. relations with the federal government, the From the institutions of our country? Civil War, and Camp Douglas: No. Well then, what from? From sin and the practice thereof. That is my But if the Government of the United counsel to this congregation and to the States should now ask for a battalion of whole world.70 men to fight in the present battle-fields of the nation, while there is a camp of On March 9, Colonel Connor reported soldiers from abroad located within that Brigham Young “raised the national flag the corporate limits of this city, I would over his residence for the first time I am told not ask one man to go; I would see since his arrival in the Territory, but not, how- them in hell first. What was the result ever, from motives of patriotism or for any a year ago, when our then Governor loyal purpose, but as a signal to his people . . . called for men to go and guard the to assemble armed, which they immediately mail route? Were they promptly on did, to the number of about 1,500.”71 The hand? Yes, and when President Lincoln following day, Connor reported that Brigham wrote to me requesting me to fit out Young and the Mormons “are determined to the establishment of Camp Douglas 167 have trouble, and are trying to provoke me to (although a strong one) for them to attack bring it on, but they will fail.”72 me, I am lost, as they have about 5,000 men Tension in the city continued to increase capable of bearing arms and cannon of heavier when Brigham Young was arrested on caliber than mine. . . . I will do nothing rashly March 10 under the 1862 antibigamy law or hastily, and my intercourse with them will (Morrill Act) and quickly released on a two- be, as heretofore, courteous and firm.”75 thousand-dollar bond.73 On March 12, the After hearing of the increased tensions in Salt flag at Brigham Young’s residence was raised Lake City, General Wright stepped back from again, causing 1,500 Mormon militia mem- his own anti-Mormonism and admonished bers to assemble. As before, the unofficial Colonel Connor to “be prudent and cautious. militia was dismissed, but Latter-day Saint Hold your troops well in hand. A day of retri- guards patrolled the city each night. Connor bution will come.”76 On March 29, 1863, with clearly recognized the friction that existed the approval of Edwin M. Stanton,77 Secretary but apparently felt he was not responsible for of War, Patrick Connor was promoted from it. He notified General Wright that colonel to brigadier general for his “heroic con- duct and brilliant victory on Bear River” over the only excuse his adherents give for the local Indian population.78 By the end of the this extraordinary proceeding is that month, General Wright notified Washington, he feared I would arrest him for utter- DC, that “although the excitement at Great Salt ing treasonable language. . . . There Lake City, brought about by the treasonable has been nothing in my conduct or acts of Brigham Young and his adherents, has language which could be construed somewhat subsided, yet I am fully satisfied that so as to induce that belief. . . . Since they only wait for a favorable opportunity to my arrival the people of the Territory strike a blow against the Union.”79 have been treated kindly and courte- Continuing distrust and tensions between ously by both my officers and men, Salt Lake residents and soldiers caused Gen- who have never given one of them eral Wright to do a surprising about-face cause for complaint, which the people when he informed army headquarters during freely acknowledge. But notwithstand- July 1863 that he was seriously considering ing this, the courtesy we have given is “the propriety of removing the troops from returned with abuse. They rail at us the immediate vicinity of Great Salt Lake in their sermons in which we are also City to the old position at Camp Floyd. . . . It classed with cutthroats and gamblers, would obviate the irritations and complaints our Government cursed and vilified in which are constantly arising between the sol- their public speeches and meetings.74 diers and citizens.” The district’s headquarters While noting that his command was “in no would remain in Salt Lake City even if the immediate danger,” he warned, “If the present soldiers were relocated, and no plans were preparations of the Mormons should continue entertained regarding the complete removal I will be compelled for the preservation of of soldiers from Utah Territory. According to my command to strike at the heads of the Wright, “The presence of the force now there church. . . . If I remain in my present position is indispensable for the protection of the 168 Kenneth L. Alford and William P. MacKinnon

Overland Mail Route and the general safety of than half of the population of Utah con- the country.”80 sists of recent emigrants of foreign birth, That same day, July 31, Wright notified gathered from all the lands under the Connor that he was contemplating reoccupy- sun, and from all the islands fixed in the ing Fort Crittenden and ordered Connor “to sea; and secondly, because the long and make immediate preparations to this end. . . . terrible persecutions of the Mormons in Advise the general by telegraph . . . when the Illinois and Missouri in the early days command at Camp Douglas can be moved to of the Church, have left behind them Fort Crittenden.”81 Any response to this order bitter memories of the power that failed from General Connor has apparently been to afford protection. Then, again, there lost, but something caused General Wright to have always been annoying quarrels change his mind. On August 19, General Con- in progress with the Mormons, which nor received new orders “to the extent that reached the very verge of war eight years if, in your judgment, the withdrawal of the ago, and the embers of which have been troops from Camp Douglas would produce an smouldering ever since. We do not see, impression on the minds of the Mormons that however, from anything that has been the removal was in consequence of disappro- published, that there have been any bation of your course while in command, or new or menacing developments of late, in any manner injurious to the interests of the or that things are in any worse condi- Government, you will retain Camp Douglas as tion than that in which they have been your principal station”—which he did.82 for the last eighteen or twenty years. Tension and misunderstanding between Is it necessary for the government the Mormons and the military continued to take any action in the premises? throughout the Civil War. In August 1863, Utah’s somewhat more sympathetic new CAMP DOUGLAS governor, James D. Doty, noted that “many AFTER THE CIVIL WAR of those difficulties arise from the mistaken In the years following the Civil War, notion that the interests of this people relations between Camp Douglas and Salt and those of the Government are at vari- Lake City gradually softened from antago- ance. I think they are not.”83 The Latter-day nism to grudging acceptance and finally Saint perspective after the war ended was to an embrace. In the space of a few short adequately summarized in a correspondent’s years, Camp Douglas became an important November 1865 New York Times report: and uncontroversial part of Salt Lake City. Reflecting a personal example of the wide- As to the graver matters of disloyalty spread change of attitude that occurred, and threatened difficulties, we may say General Patrick Connor left his family, that such accusations against the Mor- returned to Salt Lake City in the later years mons are not new, and perhaps are not of his life, and lived there until his death now, any more than formerly, altogether on December 16, 1891, when, as he had without foundation. There may be two requested, he was buried in the military reasons for this—firstly, because more cemetery at Fort Douglas.84 the establishment of Camp Douglas 169

In 1878, the year after Brigham Young’s Lake City so that his forces could dominate death, Camp Douglas was officially renamed and command the city below and probably Fort Douglas and designated as an army named the post to rub salt into the civil- regimental post. Soldiers from Fort Douglas affairs wound that resulted. During the Civil played a contributing role in American his- War, relations between the city and the sol- tory from the Civil War through the Korean diers were often marked by mutual mistrust War. Prisoners of war were housed at Fort and misunderstanding. Over time, though, Douglas during both World War I and World Salt Lake residents came to accept the idea War II. The fort was officially closed in 1991, of federal forces in their midst and enjoyed although a small section of the original the economic benefits that resulted from the grounds continued to support elements of army’s presence. The local citizens recognized the Utah National Guard and Army Reserve that most of the soldiers were simply trying for several years. During the 2002 Salt Lake to serve their country at the territorial out- Winter Olympic games, part of Fort Doug- post to which they had been assigned, and las—now an integral part of the University soldiers stationed at Camp Douglas learned of Utah—was used as the Olympic Village, that the local residents were people who had housing visiting athletes from many conti- much in common with them. Their post is nents. Visitors to Fort Douglas today can tour now viewed as a collection of quaint Victo- a military museum and several historic build- rian buildings owned by a university; the ings that help preserve its historic past. origins of its name are a cipher rather than Patrick Connor deliberately established a continuing source of Mormon bitterness Camp Douglas in the foothills above Salt about a long-dead Illinois politician.

Kenneth L. Alford is an associate professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. William P. MacKinnon is an independent historian in Montecito, California.

NOTES 1. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, March 15, of the Utah War to 1858, ed. William P. MacKinnon 1863, in The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the (Norman, OK: Arthur H. Clark, 2008); LeRoy R. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, eds., Mormon Resistance: series 1, vol. 50, pt. 2 (Washington, DC: Govern- A Documentary Account of the Utah Expedition, ment Printing Office, 1897), 371 (hereafter cited as 1857–1858 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, WOTR2). 1958); David L. Bigler and Will Bagley, The Mormon 2. Orson Hyde, in Journal of Discourses (London: Latter- Rebellion: America’s First Civil War, 1857–1858 (Nor- day Saints Book Depot, 1854–86), 6:12; Brigham man, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2011); or Young to Thomas L. Kane, September 12, 1857, Norman F. Furniss, The Mormon Conflict: 1850–1859 Brigham Young Collection, Church History Library, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1960). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt 4. Since Utah’s principal city was styled Great Salt Lake Lake City. City until an official name change in 1868, that name is 3. There are numerous sources for additional reading on used here in documents, but for purposes of simplicity, this subject. For example, see Kingdom in the West: The the name Salt Lake City is used in the narrative. Mormons and the American Frontier, ed. Will Bagley, 5. Fort Crittenden was also sometimes referred to vol. 10, At Sword’s Point, Part I: A Documentary History as Camp Crittenden. See, for example, “Report of 170 Kenneth L. Alford and William P. MacKinnon

Lieut. Anthony Ethier,” April 6, 1863, in The War of 21. “Memoranda in relation to Camp Douglas, U.T. fur- the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of nished by Gen. P. E. Connor,” quoted in Brigham D. the Union and Confederate Armies, series 1, vol. 50, Madsen, Glory Hunter: A Biography of Patrick Edward pt. 1 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, Connor (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1897), 200 (hereafter cited as WOTR1). 1990), 65. 6. “The Secession Rebellion,” New York Times, May 24, 22. “Affairs in Utah,” New York Times, September 7, 1862, 1861, 1. 3. 7. “Affairs in Utah,” New York Times, August 2, 1861, 23. P. Edw. Connor to Maj. R. C. Drum, September 14, 5. See also Thomas G. Alexander and Leonard J. 1862, in WOTR2, 119. Arrington, “Camp in the Sagebrush: Camp Floyd, 24. P. Edw. Connor to Maj. R. C. Drum, October 1, 1862, Utah, 1858–1861,” Utah Historical Quarterly 34 in WOTR2, 143–44. (1966). 25. P. Edw. Connor to Maj. R. C. Drum, October 1, 8. Gilbert Clements to W. G. Mills, August 25, 1861. 1862, in WOTR2, 143–44. Stenhouse states, “There Mills was then serving as a missionary in England. is no truth in this.” See T. B. H. Stenhouse, The Rocky Cited in History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Mountain Saints (London: Ward, Lock, and Tyler, day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 2nd ed. rev. (Salt Lake 1874), 602. City: Deseret Book, 1957), 4:544n17. 26. The historian B. H. Roberts reported that Colonel 9. “The Secession Rebellion,” New York Times, May 24, Philip St. George Cooke, the last commander at Fort 1861, 1. Crittenden, “presented to Brigham Young the flag 10. L. Thomas, report on measures taken to make secure staff of Camp Floyd–Fort Crittenden. . . . After the the Overland Mail Route to California, April 24, remnant of the army was departed, the flag staff was 1862, in WOTR1, 1023. removed from Fort Crittenden, and planted on the 11. L. Thomas to Brigadier-General Wright, April 8, hillcrest immediately east of the Beehive House.” But 1862, in WOTR1, 1023. Roberts did not mention the date when the actual 12. L. Thomas to Mr. Brigham Young, April 28, 1862, in removal occurred. See B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, series 3, (Salt Lake City, Deseret News, 1930), 4:543. In a vol. 2 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1907 address to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 1899), 27 (hereafter cited as WOTR3). Hiram B. Clawson provided additional details regard- 13. L. Thomas to Mr. Brigham Young, April 28, 1862, in ing Brigham Young’s flagpole. “One evening, while WOTR3, 27. sitting in front of the general’s tent [at the Camp],” he 14. Jas. Craig to Honl. Edwin M. Stanton, August 23, said, “I was attracted by a beautiful flag and staff and 1862, in WOTR3, 449. I was asked by the commanding officer [Colonel St. 15. Edwin M. Stanton to General James Craig, August 24, George-Cooke], if I thought President Young would 1862, in WOTR3, 453. accept it. I assured him that he would not only accept 16. Jas. Craig to Gen. Halleck, August 25, 1862, in it, but place it on his Salt Lake home, the ‘White WOTR3, 596. House,’ and that on all national occasions the flag 17. Richard H. Orton, ed., Records of California Men in the would be unfurled. They presented it; it was accepted War of Rebellion: 1861–1867 (Sacramento: State Office, and placed as stated.” Quoted in George D. Pyper, The 1890), 2. Romance of an Old Playhouse (Salt Lake City: Seagull, 18. Special Orders No. 115, Hdqrs. Department of the 1928), 75. Pacific, San Francisco, Cal., July 5, 1862, Richard C. 27. “Affairs in Utah,” New York Times, November 15, Drum, in WOTR2, 5–6. 1862. 19. G. Wright to Brig. Gen. L. Thomas, December 15, 28. “Arrival of Col. Connor’s Command,” Deseret News, 1862, in WOTR1, 181. October 22, 1862. Harding’s appalling comments 20. P. E. Connor to Major Drum, August 5, 1862; R. C. betrayed a significant lack of communications Drum to Colonel Connor, August 5, 1862; and between the War Department and Utah’s governor, Orders No. 1, Fort Churchill, August 6, 1862, in while echoing Colonel Edmund B. Alexander’s com- WOTR2, 53–55. mand disorientation during the early stages of the the establishment of Camp Douglas 171

Utah War. MacKinnon, At Sword’s Point, Part I, 339. 39. H. W. Halleck to Brigadier-General Wright, Decem- Harding’s comments parallel President Lincoln’s face- ber 9, 1862, in WOTR2, 244. tious exposition of his Mormon policy—if Brigham 40. G. Wright to Brig. Gen. L. Thomas, December 9, Young “will let me alone, I will let him alone.” 1862, in WOTR2, 245. George H. Hubbard, “ as Seen by 41. S. S. Harding to General G. Wright, February 16, the Mormons,” Utah Historical Quarterly 31 (Spring 1863, in WOTR2, 315. Utah’s governor here over- 1963): 103. looked the fact that Fort Bridger was in Utah until the 29. “Arrival of Col. Connor’s Command,” Deseret News, formation of Wyoming Territory in 1868. October 22, 1862. 42. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, Febru- 30. Orders, No. 14, Headquarters District of Utah, Octo- ary 26, 1863, in WOTR2, 326–27. ber 26, 1862, in WOTR2, 195. 43. “Affairs in Utah,” New York Times, November 23, 31. Madsen, Glory Hunter, 41, 49, 71. 1862. 32. E. B. Long, The Saints and the Union (Champaign: Uni- 44. Salt Lake City schoolhouse, in Complete Discourses of versity of Illinois Press, 1981); Fred B. Rogers, Soldiers Brigham Young, 4:2076. of the Overland (San Francisco: Grabhorn, 1938). 45. “Affairs in Utah,” New York Times, December 21, 1862. 33. James F. Varley, Brigham and the Brigadier: General Pat- 46. “Affairs in Utah,” New York Times, February 8, 1863. rick Connor and His California Volunteers in Utah and 47. “Third District Federal Court,” Deseret News, April 15, Along the Overland Trail (Tucson, AZ: Western Lore, 1863. 1989), 70, 71. 48. “Arrest of Brigham Young for Polygamy,” Deseret 34. Stephen A. Douglas, “Kansas, Utah, and the Dred Scott News, March 11, 1863. Decision,” address at State House, Springfield, Illinois, 49. History of the Church, 4:273. June 12, 1857. The senator’s impromptu remarks 50. “The Pacific Telegraph Line,” New York Times, Octo- immediately drew substantial national attention in ber 19, 1861. the newspapers and were rebutted formally by one 51. George D. Watt, report, legislative assembly, Janu- attendee, local attorney Abraham Lincoln, who spoke ary 23, 1865, in Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, in the same chamber on June 26. In a sense, these two 4:2260. speeches became the template, if not the inspiration, for 52. G. Wright to Brig. Gen. L. Thomas, March 30, 1863, the early rounds of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates in WOTR2, 369. of the following year. Because of mail delays, word of 53. P. Edw. Connor to Maj. R. C. Drum, September 14, Douglas’s comments about the Mormons did not reach 1862, in WOTR2, 119. Utah until late summer, at which point the reaction 54. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, Febru- was volcanic. See “Comments,” editorial, Deseret News, ary 19, 1863, in WOTR2, 319. September 2, 1857; MacKinnon, At Sword’s Point, Part 55. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, Febru- I, 136–37; “Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and ary 19, 1863, in WOTR2, 319. ‘The Mormon Problem’: The 1857 Springfield Debate,” 56. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, Febru- unpublished paper, 44th annual conference, Mormon ary 19, 1863, in WOTR2, 319, 320. History Association, Springfield, Illinois, May 23, 57. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, Febru- 2009; and Mary Jane Woodger, “Abraham Lincoln and ary 19, 1863, in WOTR2, 319. the Mormons,” in this volume. 58. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, Decem- 35. Heber C. Kimball, discourse, August 23, 1857, in ber 20, 1862, in WOTR2, 257. Journal of Discourses (London: Latter-day Saints’ Book 59. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, March 8, Depot, 1854–86), 5:178. 1863, in WOTR2, 342. 36. Brigham Young to Stephen A. Douglas, May 2, 1857, 60. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, Decem- Brigham Young Collection, Church History Library. ber 20, 1862, in WOTR2, 257. 37. “Affairs in Utah,” New York Times, July 8, 1861, 2. 61. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, October 26, 38. Salt Lake City schoolhouse, October 30, 1862, in The 1863, in WOTR2, 656. Complete Discourses of Brigham Young, ed. Richard S. 62. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, Febru- Van Wagoner, vol. 4, 1862 to 1867 (Salt Lake City: ary 19, 1863, in WOTR2, 320. Connor’s proposal Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2009), 2076. for repealing Utah’s Organic Act and redistributing 172 Kenneth L. Alford and William P. MacKinnon

its territory to neighboring states and territories arrested and appeared in court, where his case was echoed suggestions debated in Congress since the bound over for the next term. However, when the late 1850s. So too with the suggestion of martial law, grand jury sat in 1864 it found no indictment against which General William S. Harney, the Utah Expedi- him and he was discharged.” See Letters of Brigham tion’s initial commander, had sought unsuccessfully Young to His Sons, ed. Dean C. Jessee (Salt Lake City: in June 1857. Deseret Book, 1974), 88–89. 63. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, October 16, 74. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, March 15, 1863, in WOTR2, 656–57. 1863, in WOTR2, 371. 64. “Utah: The Treasure House of the Nation,” Utah Min- 75. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, March 15, ing Association, accessed May 18, 2011, http://www. 1863, in WOTR2, 372. utahmining.org/brochure.htm. 76. G. Wright to Col. P. E. Connor, March 11, 1863, in 65. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, October 26, WOTR2, 347. 1863, in WOTR2, 657. 77. Edwin M. Stanton to H. W. Halleck, March 29, 1863, 66. M. G. Lewis to Capt. N. Baldwin, May 11, 1864, in in WOTR1, 185. WOTR2, 846. 78. H. W. Halleck to Col. R. C. Drum, March 29, 1863, 67. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, October 26, in WOTR2, 369. The action at Bear River occurred 1863, in WOTR2, 656. January 29, 1863, about 150 miles north of Camp 68. See Stenhouse, Rocky Mountain Saints (London: Ward, Douglas and led to the greatest loss of Indian life in Lock, and Tyler, n.d.), 422; and James F. Varley, all of the nation’s Indian wars. The army considered Brigham and the Brigadier (Tucson, AZ: Westernlore, it a legitimate military action and used the descrip- 1989), chapter 6, for additional information about tion “battle.” Connor’s biographer, Madsen, and the “March Madness,” as Varley called it. many other historians as well as tribal descendants 69. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, March 15, use the term “massacre.” For the latest scholarship, 1863, in WOTR2, 370–71. see Harold S. Schindler, “The Bear River Massacre: 70. Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 10:107, 109, New Historical Evidence,” Utah Historical Quarterly 111. 67 (Fall 1999): 300–308; and John P. Barnes, “The 71. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, March 15, Struggle to Control the Past: Commemoration, 1863, in WOTR2, 371. This may have been the first Memory, and the Bear River Massacre of 1863,” Public time that Colonel Connor or his soldiers saw the Historian 30 (February 2008): 81–104. With Colonel national flag flying at Brigham Young’s residence, but Connor personally commanding, his soldiers killed it was clearly not the first time a flag had been flown at least 224 Indians and lost only 14 soldiers. See there. See, for example, “Affairs in Utah,” New York Col. P. Edward Connor, report, February 20, 1863, Times, April 6, 1862, which reports that “the Stars in WOTR1, 184–87. By July 1864, General Connor and Stripes were flung to the breeze from Brigham’s reported, “The policy pursued toward the Indians bee-hive mansion.” has had a most happy effect. That policy, as you are 72. P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. Col. R. C. Drum, March 10, aware, involved certain and speedy punishment for 1863, in WOTR2, 344. past offenses, compelling them to sue for a suspen- 73. Andrew Jensen, Church Chronology (Salt Lake City: sion of hostilities, and on the resumption of peace, Deseret News, 1899), 69. According to historian kindness and leniency toward the redskins. They fully Dean C. Jessee, “The circumstances in the 1863 understand that honesty and peace constitute their arrest of Brigham Young were as follows: Rumor of best and safest policy.” See P. Edw. Connor to Lieut. an impending arrest of President Young by a military Col. R. C. Drum, July 1, 1864, in WOTR2, 887. Yet by force from Camp Douglas for an alleged infringement February 1865, General Connor was again reporting of the anti-bigamy law of 1862 threatened a confron- that Indians “have again returned in increased force. tation between civilian and military forces in Salt Lake The troops are insufficient to contend with them.” City. To avoid this, a ‘friendly complaint’ was preemp- See P. E. Connor to Col. R. C. Drum, February 10, tively filed against the Mormon leader [in a territorial, 1865, in WOTR2, 1131. non-federal court], charging him with violation of 79. G. Wright to Brig. Gen. L. Thomas, March 30, 1863, the anti-bigamy law. The President was subsequently in WOTR2, 369. the establishment of Camp Douglas 173

80. G. Wright to Adjutant-General U.S. Army, July 31, 83. James Duane Doty to General [G. Wright], August 9, 1863, in WOTR2, 546. 1863, in WOTR2, 584. 81. R. C. Drum to Brig. Gen. P. E. Connor, July 31, 1863, 84. “Death and Funeral of General P. E. Connor,” Deseret in WOTR2, 547, 548. News, December 26, 1891. 82. R. C. Drum to Brig. Gen. P. E. Connor, August 19, 1863, in WOTR2, 581.