On 26 June 1858, COL Albert Sidney Johnston ordered his troops forward, marching them towards Salt Lake City. For over a year, they had endured cold, hunger, and grueling marches. Now, as they entered Salt Lake City, they found it abandoned -- other than a few Soldiers of the Nauvoo Legion, who stood ready to set the city ablaze if Johnston’s Soldiers began rampaging. How did Johnston’s Army feel about this ambiguous end to a year-long campaign?  How did Latter-day Saints deal with uncertainty amid Army patrols and evacuation orders? And how effective were these military measures, when th ..read more

This episode continues the adventures of Thomas L. Kane, who left his home in February 1858 and set out for Salt Lake City.  His self-imposed mission was to stop the Utah War.  His plan was, as his wife Elizabeth later wrote, was somewhat hazy:  “Tom’s plan was to go in disguise to Utah by way of California, winter though it was, and make his unexpected appearance at Brigham Young’s very gates, relying upon his own mental force and Young’s knowledge of the sincerity of his goodwill to the Mormons. He actually intended to turn a whole people’s will and make them ask for peace in ..read more

At the crisis of the Utah War -- Arguably the most dangerous moment in the history of the Latter-day Saints -- Colonel Thomas Kane set out on a bold plan: He would travel to Utah and Wyoming, in the dead of winter, throw himself between the U.S. Army and the Latter-day Saints, and hammer out a peace agreement. Nobody -- including President James Buchanan and his own father, Judge John Kane -- believed he would succeed. Yet Thomas Kane declared to Buchanan, "I am determined to go, with or without your approbation."  On this episode (Part I of III), we remember Colonel Thomas Kane, the grea ..read more

In the 1920s, an elderly and well-respected Oregon Rancher, Charlie Becker, prepared a sketch of his adventurous life, the places he had seen, the adventures he had lived, and the hardships he had overcome. He also disclosed that, as a young man, he had served as a Civilian Teamster accompanying Johnston’s Army during the Utah War.  In an unguarded moment, he allowed himself to be captured by a Latter-day Saint Raiding party. He would spend the next months a prisoner in the Utah Territory, where he would be one of the few outsiders to see up close the lives of the Latter-day Saints in the ..read more

In the 1920s, an elderly and well-respected Oregon Rancher, Charlie Becker, prepared a sketch of his adventurous life, the places he had seen, the adventures he had lived, and the hardships he had overcome. He also disclosed that, as a young man, he had served as a Civilian Teamster accompanying Johnston’s Army during the Utah War.  In an unguarded moment, he allowed himself to be captured by a Latter-day Saint Raiding party. He would spend the next months a prisoner in the Utah Territory, where he would be one of the few outsiders to see up close the lives of the Latter-day Saints in the ..read more

In August of 1857, Brigham Young delivered a speech to the saints assembled in the Tabernacle.  As he contemplated the Army force marching closer to the home of the Saints, he bitterly remembered how, over the last he and the Latter-day Saints, over the last 20 years, had been brutally victimized by armed bands, from Ohio to Missouri to Illinois.  He saw the approach of federal troops as simply the latest armed force to set out to destroy them.  But he decided that this time would be different.  He roared from the pulpit: "Let it be treason or not treason . . . .  The ..read more

In 1857, the Buchanan Administration sent an Army Expedition to Utah.  It was sure to be an arduous, difficulty journey, with many ways to suffer and few to win glory.  But who were the Soldiers marching against the Latter-day Saints?  On today’s episode, we explore the Soldiers and Teamsters, which included both selfless heroes and hopeless drunks, public servants and fugitive criminals, that made up Johnston’s Army.   Discussions include:   A letter from Robert E. Lee warning Albert Sidney Johnston not to take his wife to Utah, as the many wives of Brigham Young wo ..read more

In 1857, the Buchanan Administration sent an Army Expedition to Utah.  It was sure to be an arduous, difficulty journey, with many ways to suffer and few to win glory.  But who were the Soldiers marching against the Latter-day Saints?  On today’s episode, we explore the Soldiers and Teamsters, which included both selfless heroes and hopeless drunks, public servants and fugitive criminals, that made up Johnston’s Army.   Discussions include:   A letter from Robert E. Lee warning Albert Sidney Johnston not to take his wife to Utah, as the many wives of Brigham Young wo ..read more

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 bone ..read more

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 bone ..read more