Show f THE MORMON ORION 31 orlon BATTALION i the party given on the hist in the theatre on the occasion of the anniversary niver sary siy of the enrollment of the I 1 cormon mormon 4 ormon battalion called u up P man many y reminiscences connected band of men which are not so generally knon known as they should be their enrollment roll ment and subsequent marches are matters of history which are comparatively little known and but few outside of those who were then making their we weary 4 ry way west westward ward by baslow siow slow and pal pai painful n steps after having been mercilessly driven from their homes 2 know the peculiar pecullar circumstances of that enrollment and the tho hardships attending the departure of those men from their families at the time they left in obedience to the call of their country in ili I 1 june juine of 1846 1646 a few months after the sain saints gain ts had been compelled to leave nauvoo fleeing before furious and blood thirsty mobs bobsin in the inclemency of a winter season the robbed and plundered pilgrims were strung along the road through iowa and some had crossed the missouri river all moving west ward into an unknown and untried land behind them were werd remorseless and fiendish mobs before them a wilderness to whose terrors premont fremont and the hardy men with him had all but succumbed though well provided with every requisite for their successful exploration yet here they were about to be dared by old age helpless infancy and the debilitated of both sexes and around them were tribes of savages who might naturally be expected to view T this I 1 incursion I 1 cislon into their country with Ith jealous eyes Ric Eick etty ketty and poorly i covered wagons wind galled spavined and broken down inkles and horses oxen unfit to haul the loads placed upon them formed most of the outfit for this unparalleled journey of clothing i s cant scant of provisions lacking most of the necessities and all the comforts and lu luxuries i x uries urles of life ilfe with a journey of indefinite length and unknown terrors ahead these wanderers were scattered along the line of march in the month of june of 1940 leu in there were about 2000 wagons r encamped in western iowa between the east fork of grand river and the missouri sour river a distance of about miles the main maln body of which had arrived at cou council mii ail bluff 4 those with them having pioneered out and made and bridged a pew new road through an unknown region of nearly miles there were also several hundred wagons on the west alde aide of the missouri river on the soth of june captain james alien allen of the ps US army arrived mong the wanderers with an order from the then colonel kearney to call upon the mormons cormons Mor mons for a battalion to proceed to california by way of santa fe kearney having been so instructed by go vern ment how the call was met will be best told in the extracts which follow the first one is taken from the mormons cormons Mor mons a disco discourse urk loy toy y col T 1 L kane i ahe iho the tho call old could hardly have been more inconveniently timed the young and those who could best hive have been spared were then away from the main body either with pioneer companies in the van or their faith ing work and food about the northwestern settlements to support them till the return of tle the the season for commencing emigration the force was therefore to be recruited from among the fathers of families and others whose presence etwas most desirable to retain there were some too who could not view view the invitation without jealousy they had bad twice been persuaded by bv state government authorities in illinois and missouri to give up their arms on some special appeals to their patriotic tie tle tic confidence and had then been left to the malice of their enemies and now they were asked in the midst of the indian country to surrender oter five hundred of their best men imen for to a war march of thousands of miles to call cail 1 fornia without the hope of return till after the conquest of of that country could they view such a proposition with favor but the feeling of country triumphed the union had never wronged them you shall have your battalion at once if it has to be a class of elders said one himself a ruling elder president B young A central mass meeting for council some harangues at the more remotely scattered camps an american fla g brought out from the storehouse of thi things rescued and hoisted asted I 1 to the top of a tree mast and in three days the force was reported mustered organized and ready to march the next one is from the th mormon battalion a lecture by jamesfer guson himself one of the battalion exposed to enemies who lurked in every grove he be president young visited the various camps camp S nor ceased his exertions till the last muster roll was filled but how few knew the sacrifice it cost there was one scene that was particularly touching an aged mother to whom the call of the government and the wishes of the president were made known came forward she had five sons one was murdered and now lay jay buried deep and in the tragic well in missouri two were in a foreign land propagating the faith j for which their brothers blood was shed one was still too young to administer but needed care and comfort the other was a young man the sentinel sent and protector of her tottering steps even in her aged heart withered and broken as it was the love of county coun burned deep and strong she yield yielded up tip her son and never saw him hi M more ma e 1 I 1 knew him well wt vyt marched si side e by side he had been worn down by the bitterness and exposures of many persecutions but joseph richards was noble generous gener ofis and brave and never complained we were mustered into service on the of july 1846 A few hurried preparations pa rations and the grey haired men and striplings strip lings marched off merrily y as our commander ordered the music C to play a hasty farewell to the friends we left behind us uz 1 the following very condensed statement has been adly furnished by elder george A smith from whom w we e have also received other facts connected with the battalion captain alien allen was commissioned by the president odthe of the united states to take the command the volunteers comprising the battalion numbering five companies of log each assembled at al council bluffs were mustered into service on the of july 1846 and leaving their families famille S and wagons in the country belonging to the omaha indians set forth they marched to fort leavenworth miles on the route one of their number perished from fatigue and excessive hot weather there they received their muskets and other accoutrements of U S infantry and commenced their march august for santa fe each soldier carrying besides his musket his blanket knapsack supply of ammunition and canteen for water col alien allen who remained behind the battalion at fort leavenworth to complete his outfit died suddenly his loss was deeply mourned by the battalion who were sincerely attached to him they continued their march rosanta to santa fe iffe suffering rang want of water and provisions s iriane in instance they made a march of sixty nilles miles without water which was very scarce in many places and that found was of inferior quality ron non their arrival atlanta at santa ye ve on sept 12 general S VV kearney appointed col philip st george cooke to take command of the battalion in the place of col alien allen who belore before marching for california selected out all the laundresses and those those who on a rigid examination were supposed to bo be unable to continue the march and placed the under the command of capt james ames brown who started on the t september w ath ith orders to make a post at puebla on the arkansas river was accordingly done dong col cooke with the residue com corn fenced ed their march to california with put a oad road a wa wagon waon on having never pass jass 0 d over nver ave the route roz by which they were conducted to avoid the fhe snow know of the rocky bocky mountains col cooke followed the rio del norte south with for soo miles then turning west passed through the fortified town of gueson I 1 aeson after viete r which their guides were unacquainted with the rout and it had to be sought out ut like men traveling in the dark on leaving santa fe they were placed an three quarter rations ration sZ they were sogn soon after reduced to one half and subsequently to one ode quarter rations their meat was composed of the remains of such draught animals as were unable to proceed further on one occasion they were relieved by a v very ery roman romantic tle tic and providential enciu anter with a herd of wild cattle they traveled miles without water sunk deep wells in the desert and arrived on the pacific with but little littie loss the distance from the place of enlistment to eort port leavenworth is about miles from fort leavenworth Leaven woith by the Clin route noute to santa fe from santa je fe by the route traveled to san diego ligo 1150 miles making a total of about 2030 miles almost the he t entire march being over an uninhabited region and much of th the e wa way y a trackless une unexplored explored and forbidding desert and ana the latter part odthe of the march a affording ff neither sufficient water nor grass for animals and leading over hitherto unexplored mountain gorges when the teams failed the rat Bat battalion tallon had to carry the extra amount of ammunition and at the same time had to push the thi tha wagons through the sand and over the rugged mountains the following complimentary order of their commanding for itself and for fot the battalion I 1 head quarters mission of san diego january 1817 order no ithe bleul colonel commanding congratulates the battalion on their gare safe arrival on the shores of the pacific ocean and the conclusion of its march of over two teo thousand usand miles history may be searched arched ee luvall in vain for an equal m margh march eh of infantry nine tenths of it has been through a TV wilderness ilde mess bess where nothing but savages and wild beasts are found or deserts where for want of water there is no living creature there with almost hopeless laborde labor labo we have dug deeV deep wells ells elis which the future traveler will enjoy without without it a guide who had traversed them we have ventured into t trackless esser prairies ea where water was not found forseze for several 1 marches ar hm with crowbar and pickaxe in hand we have worked our way over mountains which seemed to td defy aught sa save sate the wild goat and hewed a passage through a chasm of living rock more narrow than our wa wagons ons to bring these first wagons to the pacific we have preserved the strength of the mules by herding them over large tracts which you have laboriously guarded without loss the garrison of four presidios dios dlos of sonora con c cent en rated within the walls of gueson 0 gave u us no pau pause rause we drove them out with their h agave r artillery t 1 but our intercourse with the citizens was unmarked by a single act of injustice thus marching hait half naked and half fed and living upon wild animals we have discovered and made a road of great value to our country arrived at the first settlement in california after a single days rest you cheerfully turned off from the route to this point of promised repose relieved ose to enter upon a campaign and meet hwe believed the approach of the enemy and this too without even salt to season your sole subsistence si of fresh meat 0 thus volunteers you have exhibited some iome high and essential qualities of veterans but much remains undone soon you will turn your strict attention to the drill to system and order to forms also which are all ali necessary to I 1 by order of col coi P st COOKE reigned PC hierl bierl adjutant one great source of annoyance to the battalion was the want vant of confidence in the U S surgeon D sanderson who was known to have been formell formerly 71 a bitter persecutor of the mormon P on I 1 people and whose expressions and g actions confirmed their suspicions that it was his wish to destroy them they were discharged at los angelos I 1 one year from en listing enlisting without the means to return to their families at the request of the military commander in california who feared a spanish revolt one co company re enlist ed fd for six months which service evas was vas pe performed r formed in a highly ner both to the officer and the people peble of san diego where they were star sta sti t r tinned etwas it was to commemorate the sary of the enrollment 0 of f that battalion thattie that the party on the leth wab was given there old comrades I 1 who together had marched that long and terrible match maich met surrounded by friends the enjoy ments oft of social ocial intercourse and ano hearts swelling to god with gratitude for the blessings he has bestowed his people the charges of dislo disio disloyalty balty maliciously flung against this people byi byl y political intriguers intrigue rs sy contract hunters and ani their volunteer allies rebound back from a buckler orlue of irue loyalty to ta our country coun and its constitution formed by such buch practical acts of pure honest hearted devotion to the flie principles of freedom freedoms freedo mr as that maulde manifested eskil in va th een n grollment roll meni ment su sufferings fib fie rings and servi services ces eeb odthe aba tha mormon Morri ion aon battalion 1 0 1 il W f i |