Show THAT BATT tlON In answer to awbmmunlcatlon the Deacret News takesup again the matter mat-ter ot the Mormon battalion It pretends pre-tends to do It with reluctance One would think it would be reluctant about repeating the stale old slarjdcrs It says The Mormon battalion was mustered Into the service of the United States In a pure spirit of patriotism and adds that considering the circumstances circum-stances that surrounded the exodus from Nauvoo when the call was made upon them for live hundred ablebodied men to serve in the var with Mexico the response was one of the greatest exhibitions of loyalty to the United Stales ever exhibited It Is this fact that arouses Intense wrath in the bo Bomu qt a few soured Individuals whose chief delight Is ia misrepresenting the Mormon people slandering the living and defaming the dead Further on it says that Senator Benton of Missouri who was an to enemy the Mormon peo plp exercised his influence with Presi dent Poll to adopt the plan of the call for 500 men from the Mormon camps to lola Gen Kearney in an Invasion of New Mexico It tells of the fear that was awakened when the call was made upon the people and adds it was also understood that If thddcmand for the battalion was not complied with the refusalvvould ba construed as hostility to the Government and the consequences would be serious In the extreme President Brlgham Young rose above all rumor and resentment and declared that the battalion should UP raised Further it says it 1 not trw that tliorc wa no iore fQ b them It Is not 3ly liad to marc trnothattliy sIns on to tho country whIch they wnntcd to go to 3t 1 not 11w r enlistment true that wa llaiIc1 Ith Joy by II the saInts The nsertlons lh wlIcIt recortl we here and deny run in the face made at arecotrr to the 41t lie lii8lory ttion a vel1 of ileople as th Mormon t Further still it adds T1ar wu no U11dertnndin oneot that not them oulil be called upon to lire a iun on tLio wholo journey about they vera to tale except te Pho V as made of tbo4 who Cflhlstnient ervico would occept the to zeve their cOuntry for twelve nnnth In our TIrOCnt t it I true tliat Prestdnt war with exIco promhed BrIgham Young they would not uz1 lii the have to lIre a shedding of iIswas human blood but u pr1iction by their miit not a prpht promhe helJ any ment officer There of Jj the no ormy need ° r Out to of he to them Govern by aity cC the acts mItrepreient relating to t1n In C115010 natlonni lilitory it mui1 to every e evident In his rt4ked at the national senses that the aid rqu t to take Luthorlties ta not ilpIes away from the alnot bedy at thu SaInii tlnIr 11lcbOliC1 IIrarIy all oInt fai distant froni mcii anti their SCUd dest1ILtion them to a The truthof this matter is that after the Saints reached Utah and the troubles began which culminated in the opiidlns1 of Johnsons army the chief of th the church always declared that the enlistment of that battalion act was an act of tyranny on the part of the United Males and to further persecute the Loriion people It WaS o prQclainled ily Brighom tbo old Bowery at twaj repeated J Over and over again by the Ieserct Nert irider the VCCnt editor tnd was up to theMernon helj pCOIle as of the anotier ad oi hoStility of the Goernnin1 the people o tle United ant i Stat to th dorinnns And this article just i quotec from in the Ncvs in filled with out out ant 1 martpresentations For the last words instance quoted of the taittug neat all thel o tendIng thei am I to a point from far distan t their Own dC5tIflti0i 15 that California The truti Ii was their For Instance Dancrot destlnati r By mJdBuinmer Cot ISIG t1o Ihe overland lino had athanc r Couni I Bluffs on tho beefl XUindcd V 0 tho Brooklyn had MIsourt rlvor an Hundred of the Saints lamleil Over tt 0 J at San Francisco Whcn e quof nrroXt it muat b C I understood that we arc quoting someone some-one who It Is believed sold himself our to give to the Mormon people Just such a I showing In his history as they wanted He continues In this strain Tho Mormons had not definitely determined deter-mined whflro In the fur West they would choose their new home Wherever Jo vpnd tho Hocky ninuntulns natural advantages ad-vantages of soil and climate might appear ap-pear bestsupplemented by Isolation niju prospective noninterference there should bo esiabllnhod the new Zioi Apparently It was doomed likely Hint experimental I seltkMiioiHM in several different regiontf might be maintained for some years be foro iho llonl chnlrr would bo made VoL I hero canbo no doubt thnt I California was p the sjiyton which Brigham Young and bis followers hud Used ihelr chief attention atten-tion fia probably best adapted for their purposes Further on he says Tho selllers revolt al Sonoma and the early occupation of the coast nrovlnces hy the United States Iho rapid Influx of Gentile Immigrants favorable prospects In the Salt Lake region and tho peculiar conditions resulting from the discovery of gold wero the leading factors that fixed the Mormon realm In Utah rather than In California Then he proceeds as follows The Latterday Saints believed they had Just cnuso of complaint Unit tho national Government had refused to protect them agnilist tho oppressions which forced them lo quit their homes In MlKsourl and Illinois and they I did not htItalo lo apply for aid from Wnnhliicrlon In their enforced en-forced exodus Thorf were roids lo bo opened forts lo be built ninny the irons ronllnonlitl highway to Origoi mllllnrv I I nnd naval slrtirs lo bo transported to t the interior md to iho western coax I In fnot there was work lo hi I dono for Iho Coy rrnmciil which they I could do us cheaply ns any ono and the compensation wautd bo nf the R real OH I asslmnnro lo Ihc nil frrillnj fnmlllcH Application was also mado for more ihroct aid Elder Samuel Unuinans device seems to have boon tn shufQ the profit with ceruiln Inllncntlal I intft of the natloial l I cIrtJL ticui I ini I t t na oin capital In ivturn for ild or I t least frr ronInlerference though his contract was not improve bv the church council i Klder Jos e r Little represented Mormon 1 j 1 Interests In the East and in a letter of appointment and Instruction to I him dnted I January 2G ISlrf was tho following sup pesllnn If our fJovernment should offer of-fer facilities for emigrating to he Vnt ern roast cmbraco those I facilities If I ii i > slblp A a wise and faithful man talo every honornblr ndxantiiRi Armed wllh I Jotters of introduction to prominent jnon Little 1 t went to Uftshlnsin whor with the aid of Amos Kendall Thorn is Kane and others he soon sormvd the attention I of President Polk Vllh his plan ri I speelmr California tho renler i < familiar I fa-miliar No xfret was made of the Intention I Inten-tion I to nettle In California It I I wis mentioned men-tioned In most of I he Introdnctorv loiter I to which 1 have altud d ziiil l i the petition Ilion I-lion uilire > ilil by j ttle to th ° President hi wrote From twelve to fifteen Ihon fand Mormons have a Iiea ily left Nauvoo i for California and many others are 5 making ready lo KO Some have con < nround Cape Horn I nd I rust I before this time have landed at the bav of San Francisco Fran-cisco Wo hay about forty thousand 5n the Urlllsh Isles all determined to gather In thiN land and thouimiK willsail this fall There are also many thousand scattered scat-tered through the Stale besides tho Croat number In and around Nauvoo who will io to CaliiMruia as noon as possllili1 but many of them arc destitute of inonev to piy llioir pa nnjro either by sea or land n an truchearlorl Amei lcin J true I to our iounlry true In Its liws true to Its Rlorloiifl lnstItuLlon < wo mild not descend to receive slstance from a foreign power pow-er although It should be jroffered nn les our Oovornmept shall urn us over In thl < tfreit crkh l and oompel us lo ho for olpnoiF If you will assist us In this crisis T hereby nlerlso niv honor ns a reorosentutlvo of IhK people that tho whole body i s lll sland roody it your oall and act as one man In the land tn which we are going and should our territory be invaded ve will hnid ourselves readv to enter the flrdd of battle and then Ilko our patriotic fathers moke the battlefield our grave or gain ourliberty Thea the history goes on to state that the first proposition was to send a thousand Mormons liy land and a thousand more by sea hut their final decision was to ralso a battalion bat-talion 1 of live hundred men to be mustered Into i the United States service for twelvemonths twelve-months under their own officers and lo mm arch by Santa Fo to California where they were to be discharged at the expiration expira-tion of their terms retaining their arms aiid accoutrements 1 Then the account saysthatLittle and Kane veuL to Fort Leavcnvorllx with dispatches 1or Col Keaicacy who on June 19th issued to CapL James Allen of the First Dragoons the order appended ap-pended in the note Allen started at once for the north and on June 2Gth ut Jit Plsga one of the principal camps of Che Mormons Issued a circular circu-lar l announcing his mission In this document he repeated the substance of dK K carneys Instructions and added Tills gives an opportunity of sending their young and intelligent men to the ultimate destination of their whole people and entirely at the expense of the United States and this advance party can thus f eel the way and look out the land for to heir brethren to como after them Those of the Mormons who are desirous of ervlng their country on the conditions lero enumerated aro requested to meet mo without delay at their principal camp a t Council Bluffs whither I am now gong la l go-ng ft consult with their principal men md receive and organize the force con t emplalcd lo be raised I will receive all h icallhy nblebodied men of from IS to 4 T years of age I hope to complete tho organization within nine days from this t Imo imeme The history proceeds with these vords f Thus 13 explained the origin of the Mormon battalion Involving It I would seem nothing mysterious or underhand lf l ii any of Its phases The Mormons asked f or aid in moving part of their people to California the Government needed a vol tb mteer force which In no other way could b 0 raised so promptly The favor was mutual The Mormons however not receiving re-ceiving aid lo the extent or of the kind Hint they hud hop d for regarded the action taken an a mere requisition for troops and In numbers out ot all propor then lo the population that was to furnish them But it Is useless to pursue the matter mat-ter Brigham Youngs agent in Wash i ngton wrote to the President that there were twelve to fifteen thousand people In destitution that they wanted the work of building the forts and roads on the line to Oregon His agent Inallymado an arrangement that a battalion 01 four or five hundred men should be raised and marched across the country to Join with those who had gone by sea to California They had full rations were fully armed They marched across the country They were discharged their arms and accoutrements ac-coutrements given thorn It Is a fact too that at that time volunteers were offered of-fered from every Stalefar exceeding the number which the Government could i accent which Ss another proof that the enlistment was a favor and not at ala al-a compulsion It was hailed as a favor by the Mormons The going away of the troops was treated asa festival The stqritis manufactured atthat time that Senator Benton had a secret agreement agree-ment willi President Polk that if the Sainto should not respond he would bo pctmlttcd to raise volunteers In Missouri Mis-souri to annihilate the wholcpooplo wan In keeping with the thousand other llca that were originated In those days to embitter the whole Mormon people against the Government and the people of the United Slates Of their going away the history continues and the pooplo must t keep In mind that even Bancroft 8aya the data is all from Mormon authority The account as written by Sergeant Taylor says hmero was mb ° senllmout or affectation at f their Icavcta ng The afternoon bo r ore tliolr march waH devoted to a tare u ivoht b4ll and a more merry dancing rout I novci have noon though time comnaiiv vent lthoqt refreshment and their ball 1 W U of the most primitive One of the fioldlors lust acts before dcnarluro was to subscribe tc largo part of hOlt pay for their famlUoKimd the Mormon poor Tho nldors made parting addresses of oncour ogorncnl and Brlgham Young formally predicted Uianot one oC those who i might enlistwould fall by the hands of the Nations foe and their only fighting would bo with wild beasts We have given space lo tills In the hope that at least some Mormons will read It and get a new realization of how utterly false and shameful the Deseret News can be when It trenches in the Icaat upon Mormon history |