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Utah Expedition (1857-1858)

 Organization

Dates

  • Existence: 1857 - 1858

Administravtive History

The Utah Expedition (1857-1858) was a bloodless military conflict between the Mormon militia, referred to as the Nauvoo Legion, and the Unites States government over the installation of a new governor in the Utah Territory.

From May 1857 to July 1858, the Utah Expedition, otherwise known as Utah War, Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, Mormon War, or Mormon Rebellion, was a result of President Buchanan’s decision to replace Governor Brigham Young with Governor Alfred Cumming. The Presidency feared the Mormon community would not accept a non-Mormon governor, resulting in the suspension of mail to Utah and 2,500 troops accompanying Cumming’s journey. Upon news of advancing troops Utah men were called to bear arms and Northern communities were evacuated. After several months of this standard, and continually hoping for peace, the Mormon leader’s willingness to accept Cumming was heard. The agreement ended with the installation of Governor Cumming and a permanent government garrison near Salt Lake City in exchange for peace and amnesty.

Citation:
LCCN 58011786: Hafen, L.R. The Utah expedition, 1857-1858, 1958(hdg.: Utah Expedition, 1857-1858)

Wikipedia, viewed February 11, 2013 :(Utah Expedition, also known as the Utah War, Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, Mormon War, Mormon Rebellion, was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers and the United States Government, from May 1857 to July 1858, located in Utah and Wyoming)

Encyclopedia.com, April 20, 2016(Mormon Expedition of 1857-1858; was a federal force sent by President James Buchanan to force the Mormons, led by Brigham Young, to obey federal laws ; Utah Expedition)

OCLC, April 20, 2016(access point: Utah Expedition (1857-1858); usage: Utah Expedition; Utah War; Utah Campaign; Buchanan's Blunder; Mormon War; Mormon Rebellion; Mormon Expedition)

Library of Congress, via WWW, Feb. 12, 2018 (Utah Expedition, also known as the Utah War, Utah Campaign, Buchanan's Blunder, Mormon War, Mormon Rebellion, was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers and the United States Government, from May 1857 to July 1858, located in Utah and Wyoming; Mormon Expedition of 1857-1858; was a federal force sent by President James Buchanan to force the Mormons, led by Brigham Young, to obey federal laws)

Mormon Encyclopedia, via WWW, Feb. 12, 2018 (Mormon militia, called the Nauvoo Legion, vs. United States government in a bloodless but costly confrontation; President James Buchanan to replace Brigham Young as governor of Utah Territory; It delayed, but did not prevent, the installation of Governor Alfred Cumming; Buchanan thought Latter-day Saints would reject a non-Mormon governor; mail to Utah suspended and 2,500 troops with Cumming to Great Salt Lake City; Utah communities were called upon to equip a thousand men; President Young announced on March 23, 1858, that all settlements in northern Utah must be abandoned and prepared for burning if the army came in; Church leaders willing to accept Cumming and a permanent army garrison in exchange for peace and amnesty)

Found in 55 Collections and/or Records:

Orley Dwight Bliss autobiography and diary

 File — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 615
Scope and Contents Handwritten autobiography and diary. Account is retrospective until 1864, when Bliss writes short daily entries about his journey from Salt Lake City to Nebraska by ox team to help gather the poor to Utah. On the return trip to Utah, Bliss describes weather conditions, daily camping locations and mileage, encounters with Indian tribes, and more than twenty deaths from cholera. Bliss immigrated to Utah at age 8 and participated in the Utah War. Several pages of family genealogy are included...
Dates: 1864-1865

John Lowe Butler autobiographies

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS SC 390
Scope and Contents

Collection includes three typewritten versions of the autobiography of John Lowe Butler. The autobiographies describe Butler's conversion to the Latter-day Saint Church, building Nauvoo, Illinois, officiating in the temple, experiences as Joseph Smith's bodyguard, the martyrdom of Smith, the expulsion from Nauvoo, the journey to Utah, the colonization of Spanish Fork, Utah, the Utah War and genealogical information of the Butler family, family wills and patriarchal blessings.

Dates: 1957-1970

David Candland diary

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230334259]
Identifier: MSS 1140
Scope and Contents

Photocopy of a handwritten diary. Candland writes about joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his life in Salt Lake Valley and in Sanpete County, Utah. He talks about his polygamous marriages, the Utah Expedition, and the birth and deaths of children. The item includes a major gap between 1863 and 1900.

Dates: 1846-1901

George Q. Cannon correspondence and record book

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS SC 323
Scope and Contents

Two ALS's to "Brother Elias" from Cannon concerning the accounts at a general store in Fillmore, Utah and a handwritten account book from the same store dated April to September, 1858.

Dates: 1858

Philip St. George Cooke letter

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230321256]
Identifier: MSS SC 2285
Scope and Contents

Handwritten letter dated 8 March 1886. Cooke responds to a request to give an account his part in the Utah Expedition, 1857-1858, during which a federal army entered Utah. Cooke writes about the march, the wintering at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, the establishing of Camp Floyd, Utah, and about his conversatins with Albert Sidney Johnston, who led the expedition.

Dates: 1886

John Crook papers

 Collection — Oversize 1: [Barcode: 31197232543006]
Identifier: MSS 158
Abstract

Handwritten diaries, newspaper clippings, genealogies, correspondence, and patriarchal blessings. The John Crook papers relates Crook's conversion, emigration to Utah, and major events related to his Church activities and work as a farmer and president of a coal company.

Dates: 1851-1941

Benjamin Franklin Cummings diaries and an autobiography

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 164
Scope and Contents Handwritten diaries including an autobiography. Cummings' autobiography covers his early life when he lived in Ohio and Navuoo, Illinois, served on a mission to Maine, and left Illinois for Utah. Cummings' diaries tell about his mission to the Indians in Idaho in the "Salmon River Mission," his service during the "Utah Expedition" of 1857-1858, his various encounters with Indians, his mission to Iowa in 1878 and 1879, and his life in Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah. Also included is a...
Dates: 1854-1879

Joseph Curtis diaries

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230331719]
Identifier: MSS SC 3245
Scope and Contents

Photocopy of a microfilm copy of handwritten diaries. Curtis also writes about his early life. He was born in Pennsylvania and joined the Mormon Church in 1833. He lived in Missouri and told about the persecution of Mormons there. He later lived in Nauvoo, Illinois, and served on two missions at that time. He came to Utah in 1848 and later settled in Utah Valley, Utah. Curtis was involved in numerous activities including defending Utah from the Utah Expedition in 1858.

Dates: 1836-1858

Duke family biographies

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230244540]
Identifier: MSS SC 569
Scope and Contents

Typewritten biographical sketch of Jonathan O. Duke, prepared by Ruby Duke Stringham, which tells (mainly through excerpts from his journal) of the Mormon expulsion from Nauvoo, Illinois; residence in Iowa; immigration to Utah; life in Provo, Utah; and participation in the Echo Canyon War. Also includes two unsigned handwritten sketches: One of Jonathan Duke and one of his son, Robert S. Duke.

Dates: undated

Enoch B. Tripp journals, 1854-1908

 Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 2032 Series 1
Scope and Contents

Contains 18 journals kepts by Enoch B. Tripp, dated 1854 to 1908.

Dates: 1854-1908