Show I 1 f 1 1 1 g I JU f I 7 1 4 I o 1 I It W was S in April 1866 when hen In fri th the city of ot Decatur Decatur- Ill two veterans I of ot the Civil war Dr B B. B F T r Steph- Steph and Rev J. J W. W Rudolph surI surgeon surgeon sur sur- I geon and chaplain respectively of ot the Fourteenth Illinois infantry or organIzed organized or- or that great patriotic organiZation organization organization the Grand Giand Army Anny of ot the Republic Re Re- public Its members had fought for Old Glory and end the of ot th the Union They hey were veterans of the greatest war ever fought in the United States and it was fitting that an organization should be perI perfected perfected per per- I that would perpetuate the work which they had and the gl glory ry which which- followed in the preservation of ot tho the Union of ot the states It was In April 1861 that the call for tor formen formen men to o for r the Union of ot the states wa was wag ls Issued sued by the martyr martYl I I president Abraham Lincoln It was In April 1865 on the ninth day of ot the month that General Robert General Robert E. E Lee surrendered to General Ulysses Ulys Ulys- I ses S S. S Grant and It was only a few tew ew days later that the great president gaVe up his life lite at the hands of ot an assassin It was as fitting therefore I as said that a great or orI organization or- or I l should be launched m in J l II I I I the month of ot April I And now nosy the news di dispatches tellus tell tellus tellus us that In our neighbor state of ot Idaho in one o of t the little cities that chat f dot the Gem state Joe Hooker Hooke post lOSt named after atter the Union genI general general gen gen- eral ral who fought the battle o abo the clouds or th the battle of ot Lookout mOUnt mountain ln near Chattanooga Tenn in November 1863 of ot the Grand Army of the Republic had ended Its Us long struggle for tor existence existences due to the rapid decreases of ot its members called by the tho majority across the dark river and that but seven are aro left of the old guard who responded to the call of We are corning coming Father Abraham strong The chatter chapter has been surrendered d the campfire has been quenched quench d the final will soon b bo bg called caled When they were mustered out of service In in 1865 1865 the call showed that tM t men had during t th the f five fIve ears jears of ot the war answered to the tho ot of the Union army army- The first annual of ot the Grand Army was wa held In the city of Indianapolis in in- 1866 I was was present five Fifty years later latel h grand giand encampment was wag again hid in ill the Indiana capital city The forty forty- third forty third annual grand encampment encamp ment was held in Salt Lake in I 1909 the first post ed in Utah was James B B. McKean McKe n post No o. o 18 18 department of Ne Nebraska roska on September 18 18 1878 with George R. R Maxwell as commander bu but subsequently subsequently it became post No 1 department de dc- de department of ot Utah There are now in m Utah Utah five tive posts with a total membership of ot about There are three in Salt Lake City one one in Ogden and one in but the thel thelast thelast l last st named has decreased t to three members all the the others having joined the great majority This post like th the one in Idaho will likely soon soon surrender its its charter for for tor there will be no one to answer the |