Category Archives: Military

USS Harder Memorial

Published / by Rylan Suzzi / Leave a Comment
Photo by Rylan A Suzzi

Write-up by Rylan A. Suzzi

Placed by: Utah Chapter of United States Submarine Veterans

GPS Coordinates: 40.44188775552948, -111.93219578198409

Historical Marker Text (1)

Photo By Rylan A. Suzzi

HARDER MEMORIAL

The USS Harder crew under the superb leadership of Commander Samuel D Dealey USN set a war record for submarines by sinking five Japanese destroyers in five days and was credited with sinking 78,000 tons of Japanese shipping before being lost in 1944.

May all the lost Submariners have eternal peace knowing the sacrifice they made helped defeat the evil forces who tried to enslave the world. 

May this hallowed place reflect the bond the living share with those who have given all for the price of freedom and peace.

This memorial was erected by Utah Submarine Veterans in 1997. We appreciate the donations from former crew members and others.

Photo By Rylan A. Suzzi

USS HARDER SS-257

ON ETERNAL PATROL

NAMERATENAMERATENAMERATE
ALTHERR, C.R.MOMM2HATFIELD, H.D.ELECMORGAN, A.B.EM2
BABER, R.O.MOMM2HOOD, E.V.TM1MOSS, R.B.S1
BEUTELSPACHER, W.F.SC3HUTCHERSON, V.W.CMOMMMURRAY, M.H.TM2
BLUM, R.A.MOMM3JAMES, D.R.LTJGOGILVIE, T.D.S1
BOURG, S.GM3JONES, R.E.MOMM3OPISSO, L.A.MOMM2
BROSTROM, W.A.SM1KECKLER, R.W.CEMPAQUET, F., JR.GM1
BUCKNER, T.W.LTJGKELLOG, J.H.EM2PECK, E.R.S1
BULL, C.A.RM2LAKEY, G.W.S1PICK, R.S.S1
CASH, V.J.MOMM1LANE, J.M.EM3PRATT, R.E.S1
CHENARD, R.R.F1LAWSON, H.W.MOMM3PRZYBILLA, R.P.EM2
CLARK, W.L.RT2LEVIN, G.B.RT2ROGERS, M.M.S1
CONLEY, J.C.MOMM1LILLEY, S.B.S1ROGERS, M.M.TM3
CRASK, H.F.S1LO CASCIO, A.PHM1ROOSEVELT, R.B.ENS
CROMWELL, J.E.STM2LOGAN, S.M.LTSAMPSON, P.T.ENS
DAHLHEIMER, D.B.MOMM2LONAS, J.P.CMOMMSCHEIBELHUT, F.X.MOMM2
DALLESSANDRO, V.L.TM1LYNN, H.A. JR.TM3SCHWARTZ M.MOMM3
DEALEY, S.D.CDRMAJURI, F.P.EM1SIMON, D.J.RM3
DEVOE, E.W.F1MANNING, R.E.EM2SLOGGETT, V.L.LTJG
DIAMOND, W.V.RM1MCGREVY, F.B.EM2SMITH, A.TM2
EDGAR, J.M.FC2MCWILLIAMS, G.K.BKR3SNIPES, J.W., JR.MOMM1
FINNEY, C.E.MACHMEDLEY, B.R.RM2SNYDER, W.N.TM3
FISHER, G.R. JR.MOMM3MILLER, C.CTMSOMMERSCHIELD, L.H.COX
GIFFORD, R.L.TM3MILLS, R.R.EM3SPICE, N.MOMM3
GLUECKERT, J.L.MOMM2MOFFETT, C.A. JR.MOMM2SWAGERTY, J.T.MOMM3
GULLY, D.J.Y1MOORE, O.J.SM2WHITE, L.TM3
HALOUPEK, W.O.ENSMOORE, R.CK2YOUNG, B.SC2
ZANDER, W.G.MOMM2

LOST IN WORLD WAR II

24 AUGUST 1944

Photo By Rylan A. Suzzi

U.S. SUBMARINE VETERANS WORLD WAR II

TO HONOR AND PERPETUATE THE MEMORY OF THOSE SUBMARINERS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES DURING WORLD WAR II

U.S.S. SEALIONU.S.S. POMPANOU.S.S. HARDER
U.S.S. S-36U.S.S. CISCOU.S.S. SEAWOLF
U.S.S. S-26U.S.S. S-44U.S.S. DARTER
U.S.S. SHARK IU.S.S. DORADOU.S.S. SHARK II
U.S.S. PERCHU.S.S. WAHOOU.S.S. TANG
U.S.S. S-27U.S.S. CORVINAU.S.S. ESCOLAR
U.S.S. S-39U.S.S. SCULPINU.S.S. ALBACORE
U.S.S. GRUNIONU.S.S. SCORPIONU.S.S. GROWLER
U.S.S. ARGONAUTU.S.S. GRAYBACKU.S.S. SCAMP
U.S.S. AMBERJACKU.S.S. TROUTU.S.S. SWORDFISH
U.S.S. GRAMPUSU.S.S. TULLIBEEU.S.S. BARBEL
U.S.S. TRITONU.S.S. GRUDGEONU.S.S. KETE
U.S.S. PICKERELU.S.S. HERRINGU.S.S. TRIGGER
U.S.S. GRENADIERU.S.S. GOLETU.S.S. SNOOK
U.S.S. RUNNERU.S.S. S-26U.S.S. LAGARTO
U.S.S. R-12U.S.S. ROBALOU.S.S. BONEFISH
U.S.S. GRAYLINGU.S.S. FLIERU.S.S. BULLHEAD
Photo by Rylan A Suzzi

TORPEDO MK.XIV MOD. 3A

Explosive In Head 600 lbs.

Weight Complete 3185 lb.

Size 21” Dia. X 20’6” long.

Low Speed 9000 Yds. at 36 M.P.H.

High Speed 4500 Yds. at 55 M.P.H.

Extended Research:

USS Harder Courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.

Construction on the USS Harder began on December 1st, 1941, six days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan forced the United States into the Second World War. The USS Harder was a gato-class, the first mass-produced submarine by the United States, a diesel-electric submarine, one of the first gato class submarines to be constructed. She was launched on August 19, 1942, and later commissioned on December 2, 1942 when she began active duty.[1] Under the command of Samuel D. Dealey, the Harder sailed from Groton, Connecticut to Pearl Harbor, where she began active combat patrols. From Pearl Harbor, she began her first patrol off the coast of Japan, striking the Japanese Sagara Maru. She returned to Midway Island on July 7, 1943 to refit and receive new orders.

            The Harder began her second war patrol on August 24, 1943, launching from Pearl Harbor with orders to patrol off the coast of Honshu, Japan. On September 9, Harder sank the Koyo Maru, followed by the Yoko Maru two days later. On September 13, she was spotted by Japanese planes and forced to submerge. After evading Japanese search planes, Harder surfaced on September 19 and sank the Kachinas Maru. On September 23, she sank the Kowa Maru and Daishin Maru off the coast of Nagoya Bay. Having spent all her torpedoes, Harder returned to Midway Island on September 28 but was able to destroy two more Japanese boats with her main deck cannon. She made port at Midway Island on October 4.[2]

            On October 30, the Harder joined the USS Snook (SS-279) and USS Pargo (SS-264) to create a “wolfpack.”[3] While patrolling the Mariana Islands in the North-western Pacific Ocean on November 12, the Harder sank two Japanese anti-submarine ships. Changing course to Saipan, Harder encountered three Japanese warships, the Udo Maru, the Hokko Maru, and the Nikko Maru, and was able to sink them all with help from Snook and Pargo. With all her torpedoes spent yet again, Harder returned to Pearl Harbor on November 30.[4]

Crew members of the USS Harder with the ship’s pennant. USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.

On her fourth war patrol, the Harder left Pearl Harbor on March 16, 1944, along with the USS Seahorse (SS-304). With orders to serve as a lifeguard ship, Harder sailed to Woleai, a small coral atoll in the eastern Carolina islands in the Pacific Ocean, where she rescued an injured pilot who had been shot down. Continuing her patrol, the Harder encountered Japanese search planes on April 13. The Japanese Destroyer Ikazuchi moved to intercept the Harder, but Commander Dealey chose to engage the vessel instead of submerging. The Harder fired four torpedoes, sinking the Ikazuchi. Four days later, Harder encountered a Japanese merchant escort and, firing four torpedoes, sank the Matsue Maru. She then returned to the Fremantle Submarine Base in Western Australia.

The Harder received orders to patrol Tawi-Tawi, an island in the Philippine Sea, where the Japanese fleet had been last spotted. The Harder left Fremantle with the USS Redfin (SS-272) on May 26. Harder encountered three Japanese tanker ships and two destroyers in the Sibutu Passage, a deep underwater channel that separated Borneo and Tawi-Tawi, on June 6. The Harder surfaced and fired three torpedoes at the two warships, with two hitting the Minazuki and sinking it. The other destroyer was undamaged and Harder submerged due to depth charges. The very next morning, Japanese search planes spotted the Harder, and a destroyer engaged her. Commander Dealey yet again decided to attack the destroyer head-on, firing three torpedoes at the Hayanami. Two of the torpedoes hit their mark, and the Hayanami sank. Harder then left the Sibutu Passage and rescued six Australian Coastwatchers off of northern Borneo. On June 9, Harder returned to the Sibutu Passage and encountered two more Japanese destroyers. She sent four torpedoes at the two ships, destroying the Tanikaze and crippling the second ship. The next day, Harder encountered a Japanese task force of three battleships and four cruisers. Commander Dealey commanded the crew to turn the Harder so that she was to the front of the lead cruiser, fired three torpedoes, and immediately submerged. The crew reported a massive explosion just as the Harder passed underneath the lead destroyer. Harder was only 24 meters below the destroyer when her torpedoes hit the destroyer. The Harder then performed reconnaissance on the Japanese fleet at Tawi-Tawi, reporting intelligence to Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, commander of the Fifth Fleet of the US Navy. This intel was crucial in Admiral Spruance’s Battle of the Philippine Sea. Harder’s aggressive attack strategy also led Japanese Admiral Soemu Toyoda to believe Tawi-Tawi was surrounded by American submarines.[5] The Harder’s radioman, Calvin Bull, was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions during Harder’s fifth war patrol.[6]

 “Sub Is Given Up for Lost”The Wilkes-Barre Record. 1945. p. 3.

 After returning to Fremantle on July 3, Harder began her sixth and final war patrol on August 5, 1944. She received orders to patrol the South China Sea and formed a “wolfpack” with the USS Hake (SS-256), Haddo (SS-255), Ray (SS-271), Guitarro (SS-363), and Raton (SS-270) on August 21. They then attacked Palawan Bay, Mindoro, destroying four Japanese ships. The next day, Harder and Haddo sailed to Bataan and patrolled Dasol Bay. There, they encountered three Japanese ships, the Matsuwa, Hiburi, and Asakazi. Harder sank Matsuwa and Hiburi, but Asakazi was only injured by Haddo, which by then had expended all of her torpedoes. Joined by Hake, Harder followed Asakazi to Dasol Bay, where they encountered a Japanese minesweeper, the Phra Ruang, escort ship CD-22, and destroyer PB-102. Hake and Harder worked to escape the Japanese ships, but at 07:28 on August 24, Hake’s radioman reported 15 explosions in the distance. Afternoon, Hake surfaced and examined the area, but there was no sign of the Harder or any of her crew. The United States Navy declared the Harder lost on January 2, 1945.[7]

 The USS Harder earned the nickname “Hit ‘Em Harder” for her aggressive combat style. She received six battle stars and earned the Presidential Unit Citation. Commander Dealey was awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously[8]. Information about the Harder, and any American service vessel, can be found on the Naval History and Heritage Command website.

Walker Neal Snyder

Torpedoman’s Mate, Third Class Walker Neal Snyder was the only casualty aboard the USS Harder from Utah. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on March 21, 1925. He was originally declared Missing in Action on August 24, 1944, but was later declared Killed in Action.[9] Along with the USS Harder memorial in Bluffdale, Utah, PO3 Snyder is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery.[10] He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Presidential Unit Citation. He was the only surviving son of Guy Mckinley Synder, born in 1896, who was born in Richfield, Utah, and lived until July 12, 1980.[11] His mother, Kathryn Marie Synder, was born on January 11, 1902, and died on February 19, 1933.[12]

Walker Neal Snyder is also listed in the “Killed in Action, Died of Wounds, or Lost Lives as a Result of Operational Movements in Warzones” in the Combat Connected Naval Casualties by States: Volume II under the subsection Nevada, although Walker Neal Snyder was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Combat Connected Naval Casualties by States: Volume II was commissioned by the United States Naval Department of Information in 1946.[13]


[1] “Sub Is Given Up for Lost”. The Wilkes-Barre Record. 1945. p. 3.

[2] Harder I (SS-257). Accessed March 2, 2022. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/harder-i.html.

[3] The term “wolfpack” when used in terms of naval combat, refers to a coordinated attack group or squadron. Coined by the German Kriesgmarine.

[4] Harder I (SS-257). Accessed March 2, 2022. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/harder-i.html.

[5] PacificWrecks.com. “Pacific Wrecks.” Pacific Wrecks – World War II Pacific War and Korean War. Accessed March 2, 2022. https://pacificwrecks.com/subs/SS-257.html.

[6] “Nebraskan Awarded Bronze Star Medal”. Beatrice Daily Sun. 1945-03-26. p. 8

[7] “Sub Is Given Up for Lost”The Wilkes-Barre Record. 1945. p. 3.

[8] “Navy Man’s Family Will Receive Medal”Eau Claire Leader. 1945-08-28. p. 2.

[9] “Walker Neal Snyder.” On eternal patrol – walker Neal Snyder. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/snyder-w-n.htm.

[10]“Walker Neal Snyder.” Walker Neal Snyder : Petty Officer Third Class from Utah, World War II Casualty. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=117196.

[11] Snyder, William Orson. “Guy McKinley Snyder.” geni_family_tree, October 23, 2017. https://www.geni.com/people/Guy-Snyder/6000000054258198986.

[12] Snyder, William Orson. “Kathryn Marie Snyder.” geni_family_tree, October 23, 2017. https://www.geni.com/people/Kathryn-Snyder/6000000054258675878.

[13] Combat Connected Naval Casualties, World War II, by States. 2. Vol. 2. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1946.

Further References

Primary sources

“Sub Is Given Up for Lost.” The Wilkes-Barre Record. January 3, 1945. p. 3

“Nebraskan Awarded Bronze Star Medal”. Beatrice Daily Sun. March 26, 1945. p. 8.

“Navy Man’s Family Will Receive Medal”. Eau Claire Leader. August 8, 1945. P. 2.

 Combat Connected Naval Casualties, World War II, by States. 2. Vol. 2. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1946. 

Secondary sources

Harder I (SS-257). Accessed March 2, 2022. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/harder-i.html

PacificWrecks.com. “Pacific Wrecks.” Pacific Wrecks – World War II Pacific War and Korean 

War. Accessed March 2, 2022. https://pacificwrecks.com/subs/SS-257.html.

“Walker Neal Snyder.” Walker Neal Snyder : Petty Officer Third Class from Utah, World War II Casualty. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=117196

“Walker Neal Snyder.” Walker Neal Snyder : Petty Officer Third Class from Utah, World War II Casualty. Accessed April 7, 2022. https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=117196

News, Deseret. “Utah Submarine Veterans Dedicate Memorial Today.” Deseret News, Deseret News, 27 Sept. 1997, https://www.deseret.com/1997/9/27/19336391/utah-submarine-veterans-dedicate-memorial-today

“Samuel Dealey, USS Harder (SS-257).” The National Medal of Honor Museum, 21 Aug. 2020, https://mohmuseum.org/samdealey/

“Sub Is Given Up For Lost.” The Wilkes-Barre Record, 3 Jan. 1945, pp. 3. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15307934/sub-is-given-up-for-lost/ 

Memory Park World War I Marker

Published / by Andrew Slack / Leave a Comment

Write-up by Andrew Slack

Photo by Andrew Slack

Placed by: The Salt Lake Chapter of the Service Star Legion

GPS Coordinates: Lat 40.77763, Long -111.8844

Historical Marker Text (Main Face):

Photo by Andrew Slack

1914-1918/ In Grateful Remembrance of the Heroic Sons of Utah Who Gave Their Lives in the World War/ This Monument Erected A.D. 1932

Face 1:

Photo by Andrew Slack

Leo Earl Able, Roni C. Ahlquist, Vincenzo Albi, Guy B. Alexander, C. E. Allen Jr, Orin H. Allen, James Anaquist, Alexander Anderson, Clarence Anderson, Clyde V. Anderson, Darrel A. Anderson, Edward C. Anderson, George E. Anderson, George Erastus Anderson, Junius N. Anderson, Otto A. Anderson, W.W. Anderson, George N. Ansley, Clarence M. Argyle, Horace R. Argyle, James Earl Armistead, Winston Arnett, Wallace W. Asher, Earl Ashton, James B. Austin, Lear E. Austin, Roy Irl Austin, Spot Austin, S. A. Axelson, Charles A. Bacon, James C. Bagan, Burl H. Baker, Herman Baker, John L. Banner, Joel C. Barlow, John W. Barnes, Ben Barnett, Charles H. Barrett, Edward H. Barrus, Cliff Barton, Arthur T. Bates, Joshua H. Bates, James C. Bawden, Clinton G. Beasley, Kemper J. Beasley, L. C. Beauman, Otto Beebe, Leroy E. Benson, William Bentler, A. L. Bergman, George N. Bernardis, Edward T. Berry, Christian H. Best, Ralph Biddell, Elmer S. Bishop, WM. H. Blackburn, Allen Murl Blain, John Blundell, Rufus G. Bolten, Fred Booth, John David Boyd, Ralph R. Braby, Ross J. Bracken, George A. Brand, Clarence J. Brandley, Ira Claton Brandt, Alexander L. Brewer, James Roy Brighton, Earl P. Brown, Eugene A. Brown, Harold Brown, John H. Brown, Logan H. Bryant, George E. Bunker, Hubert H. Burns, Harold H. Burrows, Hubert G. Bush, Ralph W. Bush, Emil W. Butler, Meldon Byerco, Arthur L. Cahoon, Joseph A. Cain, Victor Caldart, Alton Calder, Elmer C. Calhoun, Harold Cameron, Fred J. Cannon, George W. Carlile, Alvin P. Carlson, Curney F. Carlson, Charles T. Carroll, Maurice R. Carter, Stefano Casgiano, Albert Casera, Russell Chambers, George Chandler, Elwin F. Chapman, Ralph E. Chapman, Anthony Chiaromonte, James E. Chipman, Erbie Christensen, Royal Christenson, F. B. Christiansen, Roger H. Clapp, John F. Clark, William Russell Clark, Earl L. Cobb.

Face 2:

Photo by Andrew Slack

William E. Colby, Virgil Cole, Ray C. Coleman, Vernell W. Coleman, Albert Comina, Umberto Conedero, George B. Cook, James L Corbitt, George Cottam, Eugene Cottis, Clive N. Coupe, Archie E. Cowen, Robert W. Cowdrey, Harold A. Cox, Jose Coz, Abraham J. Crawford, Edward J. Crawford, Elmer J. Criddle, James W. Crosland, Edward J. Crossman, Earl F. Crow, Raymond F. Crow, James Cuff, Milton R. Cummings, Adolphus B. Curtis, Carter Curtis, George Curtis, Leroy Curtis, James Dacoles, Edwin Dahlquist, Jesse Daly, Joseph L. Damron, Fred O. Dancan, C. P. Danielson, John G. Darley, Fletcher G. Darrold, George F. Darrow, Gifford Davidson, Russell W. Davies, Bryce E. Davis, Frank D. Davis, Norman S. Davis, David Day, George R. Day, Jesse Dayley, David L. Dean, Fletcher G. De Ford, Charles Densley, Mike Descisco, Peter Detomasi, Roy Dewitt, Jared Dickson, Thomas W. Dimond, James M. Dodds, John Doles, Joseph R. Don, John T. Donnohue, Ora J. Douglas, Lionel C. Dover, George Drand, Austin Draper, Jabbez M. Draper, John R. Draper, Oliver Drysdale, Claud L. Duff, Arthur Duffin, Fred J. Duncan, George D. Dundas, Robert E. Durrant, George E. Earl, Fred Edler, Frank W. Edwards, John Thomas Egan, Abel J. Ekins, John A. Ekman, Ernest H. Ellerman, James Elliott, Walter B. Elliott, Mervin A. Elwood, Carl O. Engemann, Emmet Erickson, Harry D. Estes, Kenneth Evans, Lawrence Evans, Chris W. M. Evensen, George G. Falter, Leonard G. Farley, George E. Farnow, Partick J. Farrell, Nathon Faux, Harold M. Ferguson, E. Finteilakis, Charles L. Fiske, Ed. H. Fitzgerald, John T Forscen, Claude Ray Foster, Herbert E. Fowers, William E. Fowlers, James W. Foy.

Face 3:

Photo by Andrew Slack

Anders J. Fredson, Bert W. Freeman, Frank S. Fuller, William O. Funk, Jarald M. Furgason, John A. Furphy, George M. Gaisford Jr, Melvin Galbraith, Verne Gardner, Wayne Gardner, C. Elwood Garvin, Louis Garzia, Thurman Gates, Basilios Gerogopulos, George Gidney, Eldridge S. Giffin, Elmo Arthur Gillen, John W. Gillespie, Morris S. Ginsburg, Herman Glassmier, Willian T. Gleason, Herbert F. Gledhill, Albert W. Goddard, George W. Goins, T. E. Gourgiotis, Willard C. Gowans, N. Ray Gowers, James M. Graham, Fred J. Grant, Edwin M. Gray, Wallace Gray, Amasa L. Green, Armistead A. Green Jr, Arthur R. Green, Carl E. Green, Lawrence Green, Clayton B. Griswold, Stephen Groesbeck, Richard N. Grunow, H. N. Gudmunson, Richard M. Hackett, Norman J. Haeckel, Jacob Hafen, James A. Hagan, J. H. Hague, Lloyd Burt Haigh, Howard Hales Jr, Henry Hall, Ralph Hall, Fred W. Halser, Alfred C. Halseybrook, Harry J. Halton Jr, John W. Hansard, Milton G. Hansen, Hans Hanson, Paul O. Hanson, Earl S. Harper, F. S. Harrison, Marion J. Hatch, Golden Hatfield, Leon Haws, Carmen F. Hayes, Geofrey B. Hayes, James J. Hayes, Manford W. Hayes, Ruben L. Hayes, James J. Hayward, Lester R. Helland, Orion Helm, Geo. A. Hendrickson, Jacob Henschell, Alton Hlatt, Lavon R. Hickman, Robt. F. Hilderbrandt, Stanford Hinckley, Harold V. Hobson, Thadeous Hodges, Amos Hoeft, Henry Hofele, John Arthur Hogan, John M. Hogan, Doak Holler, Emil John Hollow, Phelps R. Holman, Raymond M. Holmes, Fred Parry Holton, Cicil J. Horton, Ira Houtz, Samuel E. Howard, James E. Howell, Seymore O. Howell, William H. Huffman, Harry D. Humphries, Basil A. Hunsaker, Thomas Hunt, Daniel W. Hurst, Russell A. Ingersoll, Wm. Wallace Ipson, Eugene B. Isgreen, Frank A. Issakson, Arthur Ivie, David Ivie, Ray Ivie, Wilbur G. Jackson, Wilbur I. Jackson, William L. Jacobs.

Face 4:

Photo by Andrew Slack

William G. Jackos, Arthur Janney, Alma L. Jensen, Irving W. Jensen, Leo M. Jensen, Leroy Jensen, Ruben M. Jensen, Waldemar Jensen, D. E. Jesperson, Richard I. Jewkes, Edmond Johannesen, Arnold Johnson, Clarence L. Johnson, Ernest F. Johnson, Raymond Johnson, Wilbert Johnson, Guy Johnston, Charles C. Jones, Bert M. Jones, David L. Jones, Henry M. Jones, John E. Jones, Joseph Jones, Joseph L. Jones, Joy V. Jones, Marvin L. Jones, Hans Hilbert Jorgerson, Guy J. Jurgensen, William Kallas, Demetrios Karvarites, Daniel L. Keate, George H. Keifer, Harry Keith, Michael J. Kelly, V. A. Kelly, Earnest Kendall, Joseph Kenner, George Kerr, Peter L. Keyes, Scott R. Kimball, Worthy Kinear, Thomas Kirkland, Homer W, Kizer, Moroni Kleinman, Alexian E. Koshaba, Henry R. Kramer, Edward A. Kupfer, Bakran Kurkjian, Vahran Kurkjian, Sims Kwan, Wesley L. Lackyard, Henry J. Lafever, Bazel G. Lake, Joseph B. Lambert, George G. Lambourne, Arthur F. Langshaw, Isaac H. Langston, Jesse L. Larrabee, Cleveland S. Larsen, Lars L. Larsen, Lawrence E. Larsen, Orvill Harry Larsen, George T. Larson, Hubert H. Layton, William Layton, Ernest A. Lee, John H. Lee, William H. Lees, Carl P. Leishman, William Leitz, Frank Leland, Cirilo Leones, Herbert C. Leslie, Harold E. Lewis, James Fallis Lewis, George Kenley Liddell, Gustavus R. Lilya, Daniel J. Limb, Roy Link, Edward L. Lister, Alfred P. Liston, George Lloyd, Dan A. Lockhart, William Lofthouse, Albert W. Long, Charles R. Longson, George Lord, Wayne G. Loveless, Frank Luckini, George Luedeke, Fred Lungrin, Francis W. Lyman, Grant H. Lyman, Merl Gowans Lyman, Walter S. McCann, William J. McCombb, Seth McConkie, Harold McConnell, Charles S. McDonald, Monroe McDonald, Douglas R. McEwen, Ernest McFarlane, Calvin P. McGovern, O. K. McGraw, William Arthur Grown.

Face 5:

Photo by Andrew Slack

Orestes K. McGun, Roy McKay, Alvin McKean, Angus R. McKellar, Harold J. McKinnon, Robert C. McLaughlin, P.P. McManamon, Melvin V. McMillan, David L. McNeil, Elias Mabarah, Fred Mabutt, William R. Mace, Ray Van Cott Madsen, Paul Maeser, Jack Major, C. J. W. Malmstrom, Harry F. Malone, Lawrence E. Manning, Harold Manwaring, Joe R. Maranjo, Leland R. March, David A. Margetts, Jackson Martin, William Martin, Joseph M. Martinez, William C. Marvin, C. J. Mason, William H. Mather, Mat Mattson, Wm. Henry Maturin, Frank Alma Maughan, Frank Thomas Maze, Frank W. Medell, Joseph H. Merrill, Alf Meyer, Daniel R. Michelsen, Cleo Mileni, Glenn Miles, Maurice K. Miles, Jacob B. Millar, Bert R. Miller, Byron G. Miller, Clarence E. Miller, Frank Miller, Glen S. Miller, W. E. Millerberg, Charles Mills, Charles J. Mitchell, Corbet Mitchell, Louis Monas, Francis L. Monk, Walter A. Monson, Ross Moore, Lester Earl Moreton, Adrian L. Morin, James F. Morris, Rexford W. Morris, Claude W. Morse, Arthur L. Mower, Joseph C. Muir, Russell Muir, John Mulder, James H. Murphy, Francis W. Naylor, Russell Neargarder, Boyd A. Neilson, George N. Neilson, Charles E. Nelson, Clarence K. Nelson, Gorge J. Nelson, George R. Nelson, George W. Nelson, Louis O. Nelson, Oscar E. Nelson, Roy P. Nelson, William A. Netcher, Alfred Nichols, Arthur S. Nielson, Harry D. Nones, FritzL. Oberg, Joseph G. Okey, Raymond Oldham, Rutilio Olguin, H. K. Olmstead, Andrew M. Olsen, Charles F. Olsen, Hyrum Olsen, Leander Olsen, Albert F. Olsen, Jabe A. Openshaw, Oran A. Openshaw, John H. Osborne, W. E. Osborne, Frank R. Ostler, Thomas W. Ostler, Carl L. Ostlund, Carl J. Ostlund, Dewey H. Ottosen, G. Pallioutahakis, C. D. Papademetrin, Harvey A. Parker, Lawrence E. Parker, Arthur Regan Parkes, George Parkinson, J. A. Parnell, Eugene Pasley, John Henry Poulson.

Face 6:

Photo by Andrew Slack

Melvin C. Patten, Delos LeRoy Peay, Hyrum A. Perry, Ralph Perry, Edward M. Peters, George J. Peters, Alvin G. Peterson, Arthur L. Peterson, Edward C. Peterson, Frank E. Peterson, John O. Peterson, Kimball C. Peterson, Leonard H. Peterson, Levi F. Peterson, Paul D. Peterson, Peter C. Peterson, Ray D. Peterson, Vern A. Peterson, Dell Phillips, Peter D. Pitts, Wm. Raymond Platt, Rayley Postlethwaite, Frank B. Potampa, Dan Potovitch, Joseph Powell, Thomas J. Powell, Alvin L. Prater, Claytor P. Preston, William Price Jr, Arthur L. Pritchard, Merlin Proctor, Reuben V. Radmall, Albert L. Ralph, Cleon J. Reber, Frank Redo, Jerry V. Reece, David M. Reed, Joseph D. Reed, Oreal D. Reeder, Ornamon Remington, Edward J. Rice, William H. Richards, L. F. Richardson, Earl E. Ridd, Brutus L. Rideout, Elmo Ridges, Joseph Riggs, Harold L. Ritchie, William A. Robbins, Arthur O. Roberts, John W. Roberts, Alex G. Robertson, Joseph Robertson, Joseph Robinson, Lynn S. Robison, Peter J. Rolley, Grant M. Romney, William L. Rook, Ernest Rudy Rosell, Gus Ross, Egino Rosson, Louis H. Rowe, Thor Y. Rowley, Orvill W. Ruby, Abraham Ruesch, Sterling Russell, Albert S. Sadler, Frank G. Sainsbury, Frank Salvatore, Elmer John Sandberg, Martin Sanders, William R. Sands, Angel SanTarelli, Wilford N. Sargent, Eugene N. Saunders, William A. Schade, Fred F. Schmmalz, Albert F. Schneider, Lesliie C. Schrider, Vernon L. Scott, William A. Seier, James L. Shaffer, James Shaw, Scott M. Sheets, John W. Sherman, George B. Shotliff, George M. Silver, Kwan Sims, Neils Skeen, R. W. Slater, Ardie Smith, Gilbert L. Smith, Harry E. Smith, Henry Smith, Lehi Larsen Smith, William Smith, Elmer S. Snyder, Ernest W. Sorenson, Grover P. Sorenson, Hyrum M. Sorenson, Joseph H. Sorenson, Raymond D. Sorenson, Sydney A. Sorenson, Walter J. Sorenson.

Face 7:

Photo by Andrew Slack

Gustave Spitzbaurdt, James K. Sprunt, Russell K. Sprunt, Edwin E. Squires, William Squires, Glen Stallings, Constant Steelant, William Steglish, George W. Stevenson, Alphonso Stewart, Charles J. Stewart, Edward Stewart, Ned Stewart, Forrest Stewart, Francis N. Stringham, Ernest E. Strong, Arthur F. Sullivan, Osborne Sutton, Robert Swan, William M. Swan, Alfred Swens, Horace R. Tanner, August C. Targetta, Joseph Taylor, Lynn Taylor, Robert B. Taylor, Carson Terry, Hadley Howard Teter, Arthur P. Thomas, Frank W. Thomas, Guy Thomas, Heber H. Thomas, P. Alonzo Thomas, Stanley W. Thomas, Benjamin Thompson, William O. Thompson, George Tomaka, Ransford Torgerson, Vernon W. Tozer, Thomas W. Tower, Thomas Traggastis, Herman Trew, Harold A. C. Trotman, Charles L. Tucker, Percy D. Tucker, Parley C. Turner, Roland V. Twelves, Jack E. Tyler, Gordon Van Alystine, William Van Dusen, Alber V. Van Pelt, Harlow H. Vincent, Don C. Wade, Martin E. Wagner, Ren Wagstaff, William Wainwright, Wm. H. Walkington, J. Blaine Wall, James John Wallas, Partick J. Walsh, Frederick W. Walson, Edward H. Walters, Wilford R. Wanberg, William Wanio, William C. Wanner, Keith Warby, B. E. Watkins, Devers Watkins, Ernest B. Watkins, Ellis L. Weeter, Harley Weir, James C. Wells, Wilford Wells, Richard Werner, Russell J. West, George H. Western, John H. Weston, M. Wheelwright, Ira B. Whitaker, Charles L. White, Fred T. Whitehouse, W. A. Whiteley, Fred T. Whitesides, Mason D. Whitmore, Clifford A. Williams, Ray O. Williams, Joseph C. Willmore, Joseph S. Wilkes, Herbert Wilson, James H. Wilson, James W. Wilson, Orson P. Wilson, Elmer Winters, Alden M. Witbeck, John E. Witbeck, George Woodard, W. W. Woodland, Joseph R. Woolley, N. F. Woolley, Nelden F. Worley, Anton Woytak, Jack P. Wright, A. H. Wunderlich, James G. Yardley, George L. Young, John P. Young.

Extended Research:

World War I saw the highest level of foreign troop deployment in American history. Due to the extreme number of casualties and the difficult nature of transporting the dead back to the United States for burial, many servicemembers were buried overseas. The American Battle Monuments Commission was formed and tasked with creating US cemeteries overseas. In the US, the Service Star Legion created the National Memorial Grove in Baltimore to honor those who were lost and buried overseas. These events inspired similar monuments to US servicemembers who died in the war throughout the nation. Utah’s memorial to those lost was initially proposed by the local chapter of The Service Star Legion in 1920, and City Creek Canyon was selected as the anticipated site. The Service Star Legion was made up of mothers of servicemembers across the country who displayed flags with stars that indicated how many sons they had fighting in the war. A Gold Star Mother referred to a mother who displayed a gold star on her flag, indicating that she had lost a son in the war. [1]

Original Marker

By 1924, the mothers of Utahns killed in the war had organized into the Gold Star Mothers of Salt Lake, and proposed a monument that included a bronze tablet adorned with the names of Utahns who died during the war. Their efforts in lobbying the state legislature and garnering public support were vital in this effort. Anne Payne Howard was named the treasurer of the committee that oversaw the development of the monument, and was instrumental in securing funding for the project.[2] She repeatedly called on local citizens to donate to the monument fund, and purchased numerous advertisements in local newspapers to drum up support. Due to the efforts of Anne Payne Howard and the Gold Star Mothers of Salt Lake, the original monument was dedicated on Friday, June 27, 1924 by then-Mayor C. Clarence Nelson. The dedication ceremony drew hundreds of visitors, including then-Governor Charles R. Mabey, Disabled American Veterans president James McFarland, and Medal of Honor recipient Sergeant Samuel Woodfill. This version of the monument was designed by Salt Lake City architect Walter J. Cooper, and according to sources at the time, featured the names of 728 Utahns.[3] Later sources cite 665 names, and the discrepancy is not explained anywhere. It is possible the original news announcement had incorrect information.

Current Marker

            In 1932, Anne Payne Howard served as the chairman of Memory Grove Park, and announced that a new monument for those lost in World War I would replace the original. The new monument included a pergola made of the same Vermont marble that was used in the Lincoln Memorial, and an octahedral marker in the center. The construction of the monument cost $13,500.[4] On Memorial Day of 1932, a ceremony was held to honor the veterans of World War I. During the ceremony, the efforts of the Gold Star Mothers and Anne Payne Howard over the past decade were realized with a new monument engraved with the names of 665 Utahns, cementing their sacrifice so they may be honored.

For Further Reference:

Primary Sources

Miller, Selma. “Soldier Dead Honored with Bronze Plate.” Salt Lake Tribune. June 27 1924.

            Link: https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s66t4pvn/18919876

“War Memorial Work Planned Soon.” Salt Lake Tribune. February 16 1932.

            Link: https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6q82n1v/15818753

Secondary Sources

Kiser, Benjamin, Holly George, Kaleigh McLaughlin, Valerie Jacobson, and Christina Epperson. “Utah’s World War I Monuments.” Pamphlet by Utah State Division of History.

Love, William G. “A History of Memory Grove.” Utah Historical Quarterly 76 no. 2 (2008): 148-167.

Powell, Alan Kent. Utah and the Great War: The Beehive State and the World War I Experience. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. 2016.


[1] Allan Kent Powell, Utah and the Great War: The Beehive State and the World War I Experience (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2016), 397.

[2] Benjamin Kiser et al, “Utah’s World War I Monuments,” Pamphlet by Utah State Division of History.

[3] Selma Miller, “Soldier Dead Honored with Bronze Plate,” Salt Lake Telegram, June 27 1924, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s66t4pvn/18919876.

[4] “War Memorial Work Planned Soon,” Salt Lake Telegram, February 16 1932,  https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6q82n1v/15818753.

The Walker War

Published / by Christopher Rich / Leave a Comment

Write-up by Christopher Rich

Placed by: The monument does not describe what organization placed it.  However, according to employees at the Peteetneet History Museum, it was funded by The People Preserving Peteetneet and installed by the Highway Department.

GPS Coordinates: 40.033313, -111.734020

Photo Credit: Christopher Rich

Historical Marker Text:

You are a fool for fighting your best friends, for we are the best and the only friends that you have in the world” wrote Brigham Young to the Ute Indian Chief Walkara in 1853, after the latter had engaged the settlers of Utah in their first major Indian war.


Angered because the whites had put an end to the Indian slave trade in the territory and had encroached upon their lands, the redmen found a pretext for beginning hostilities at Springville, July 17, 1853, when an Indian, while beating his squaw, was killed by a white man. The following day, Alexander Keele, a guard at Payson, was shot by Indians and the war was on. The policy of the white defenders was one of vigilant watch and limited offensive warfare. However before Governor Brigham Young led a peace mission into Walkara’s camp in May 1854 that ended the conflict, 20 whites had been killed including the U.S. Government surveyor Captain John W. Gunnison, who was massacred with 7 of his men near the present site of Hinckley, Utah.

Extended Research:

Wákara

When the first Euro-American explorers came to Utah in 1776, the Western Ute were a non-equestrian people whose way of life was not very different from other local Indigenous people such as the Paiute and the Goshute.  However, over the next thirty years, the Western Ute obtained horses and firearms and were integrated into New Mexican trade networks.  The Ute developed a raid and trade economy in which they enslaved non-equestrian Indians in the Great Basin and traded them into New Mexico.  In the mid-1820s, they also began to trade with American and British trappers.  The Ute band leader Wákara (or Walker) eventually joined mountaineers such as Thomas “Peg-Leg” Smith in large-scale horse raids in California.  By the time that Brigham Young led the Latter-day Saints to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, Wákara had grown rich in a trade system based on stolen livestock, firearms, and slaves.[1]

Brigham Young hoped that his people could avoid conflict with the Ute.  He purposely chose to settle in the Salt Lake Valley rather than on the principal Ute lands in Utah Valley so as not to “crowd upon the Utes until we have a chance to get acquainted with them.”[2] Nevertheless, a small band of Timpanogos Ute soon began stealing Mormon livestock.  In February 1849, a Latter-day Saint posse surrounded the band, and after the warriors refused to surrender, engaged in a two-hour battle in which 4-6 Timpanogos were killed.  Soon afterwards a group of Mormon colonists entered Utah Valley to create a permanent settlement.  Over the next year, incidence of theft and violence increased around the new Mormon colony at Fort Utah.  In one instance, a group of Mormons killed a Ute named “Old Bishop” and attempted to cover-up the crime.  After much cajoling by settlers and visiting military officers, Brigham Young finally authorized the territorial militia to carry-out a full-scale assault against the Timpanogos in March 1850.  Young was not informed of the murder of Old Bishop, and later indicated that he would not have sent the militia had he known the truth.[3]  But for the next year, the Latter-day Saints implemented an aggressive policy against “hostile” bands of Ute and Goshute.  By June of 1851, Young abandoned this war policy on both fiscal and humanitarian grounds.

Fort Utah

Despite the conflict in Utah Valley, the Mormons entered into an alliance with Wákara’s band of Ute in the summer of 1849.  This alliance ultimately lasted for four years.  Wákara believed that the Latter-day Saints would provide a local market for the spoils of his raiding activities, and that he could also continue to trade with the New Mexicans.  However, the Mormons objected to the trade in Native American women and children that was an important component of Wákara’s business model.  In some cases, Mormons refused to purchase children from Ute slavers who would then kill the children.  This left the Mormons in a difficult position.  They wanted to halt the slave trade, but worried that enslaved Indians were in immediate danger if the Mormons did not purchase them. In the winter of 1851-52, the Latter-day Saints prosecuted a group of New Mexican traders for engaging in the slave trade with the Ute. At the same time, the Utah Legislature passed a law permitting Mormons to purchase Indian slaves and hold them as apprentices for up to 20 years.

By the spring of 1853, Mormon restrictions on the slave trade were causing significant friction with Wákara’s band. This state of affairs was only exacerbated by the continued expansion of Mormon settlements onto Ute land. Threats were exchanged on both sides, but direct hostilities did not break out until the summer.  On July 17, a Mormon settler in Utah Valley named James Ivie intervened in a physical altercation between a Timpanogos man and woman, mortally wounding the man.  Brigham Young immediately wrote to Wákara and his brother Arapene and urged them to remain at peace.[4]  Local Mormons also attempted to negotiate.  But the relationship between the Saints and the Ute was too badly damaged.  The next day, the Ute retaliated by killing a Mormon named Alexander Keel.  Over the next several days, the Ute wounded several more Latter-day Saints in different locations.  Militia leaders in Utah Valley quickly organized a punitive expedition and killed several Utes before Brigham Young ordered them to return home.  But these events initiated a cycle of revenge that lasted for six months.    

During the ensuing conflict, Brigham Young followed a strategy that has been described as “defense and conciliation.”[5]  He ordered the militia to refrain from pursuing Ute raiders.  Instead, he instructed Mormon communities to build forts and to send excess livestock to the Salt Lake Valley while he attempted to make peace.  However, the Saints often ignored these directives and engaged in retributory attacks.  On at least two occasions, the Mormons summarily executed unarmed Ute prisoners.[6]  At the same time, the Ute relied on guerilla tactics, attacking small parties of Mormons or stealing livestock and then fleeing back into the mountains.  The Ute sometimes mutilated the dead, further inflaming passions.  One victim, Thomas Clark, was found scalped with his head smashed in and his heart removed.[7]  By January 1854, 12 Mormons had been killed as had 24-34 Ute.[8] However, the infamous murder of Captain Gunnison and his mapping party by Pahvant Utes in October 1853 was unrelated to the larger conflict.[9]

Although the struggle between the Mormons and the Ute has come to be known as the Walker War, Wákara’s actual participation in hostilities is disputed. As early as July 22, the Mormons heard rumors that Wákara had counseled his band to seek peace and left the theatre of conflict.[10] By November, the Saints were convinced that Wákara’s band had split and that Wákara had gone south to winter with the Navajo. Other members of his band continued to fight until January 1854.  Even so, Brigham Young entered into peace negotiations with Wákara during the spring.  Wákara demanded the right to trade with the New Mexicans as before and to receive annual tribute for the occupation of Ute lands.  In May 1854, Young and Wákara met in person.  Young refused to accede to Wákara’s demands although Young did purchase at least one Paiute captive from the Ute leader.  Nevertheless, the two men entered into a peace agreement. Wákara died early the following year.  Although there was brief fighting with the Ute band leader Tintic in 1856, the Latter-day Saints and the Ute largely remained at peace for the next decade.  In 1865, Western Ute leaders signed a treaty with the federal government in which they agreed to remove to a reservation in the Uinta Basin.

For Further Reference:

Primary Sources

Journal History of the Church, 1830-1972.  Church History Library.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Young, Brigham.  “Brigham Young to Wakara and Arapene,” July [18?], 1853. http://brighamyoungcenter.org/s/byp/item/1057?property%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&property%5B0%5D%5Bproperty%5D=7&property%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=in&property%5B0%5D%5Btext%5D=1853&link=/s/byp/page/documents#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-3840%2C-254%2C11398%2C5075.

Secondary Sources

Alley, Jr., John R.  “Prelude to Dispossession: The Fur Trade’s Significance for Norther Utes and Southern Paiutes.” Utah Historical Quarterly 50, no. 2 (Spring 1982): 104-123.

Christy, Howard A. “The Walker War: Defense and Conciliation as Strategy.” Utah Historical Quarterly 47, no. 4 (Fall 1979): 395-420.

Jones, Sondra G.  Being and Becoming Ute: The Story of an American Indian People. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2019.

Wimmer, Ryan Elwood. “The Walker War Reconsidered.” MA thesis, Brigham Young University, 2010.


[1] Sandra G. Jones, Being and Becoming Ute: The Story of an American Indian People (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2019), 8-68; John R. Alley, Jr., “Prelude to Dispossession: The Fur Trade’s Significance for Norther Utes and Southern Paiutes.” Utah Historical Quarterly 50, no. 2 (Spring 1982): 104-123.

[2] Journal History of the Church, 1830-1972, 21 July 1847, Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City, Utah).

[3] Jones, Being and Becoming Ute, 84-87.

[4] Brigham Young, “Brigham Young to Wakara and Arapene,” July [18?], 1853. http://brighamyoungcenter.org/s/byp/item/1057?property%5B0%5D%5Bjoiner%5D=and&property%5B0%5D%5Bproperty%5D=7&property%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=in&property%5B0%5D%5Btext%5D=1853&link=/s/byp/page/documents#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-3840%2C-254%2C11398%2C5075.

[5]  Howard A. Christy, “The Walker War: Defense and Conciliation as Strategy.” Utah Historical Quarterly 47, no. 4 (Fall 1979): 395-420.

[6] Wimmer, Ryan Elwood. “The Walker War Reconsidered.” MA thesis, Brigham Young University, 2010, 139-40, 144-45.

[7] Ibid, 143-44.

[8] Ibid, 155.

[9] Ibid, 148-49

[10] Ibid, 132-33.

Echo Canyon Breastworks

Published / by Christopher Rich / 1 Comment on Echo Canyon Breastworks

Write-up by Christopher Rich

Placed by: Boy Scouts of America Troop 681 and 738.  Funded by Summit County Restaurant Tax and Summit County Historical Society. The aging wood was replaced with steel in 2015 by the Summit County Historical Society.

GPS Coordinates: 41.008377, -111.380923

Photo Credit: Christopher Rich

Historical Marker Text:

The Echo Canyon Breastworks were constructed during the autumn of 1857 under the direction of Daniel H. Wells, commander of the Mormon militia.  They were set atop high cliffs where they would provide the greatest advantage against possible attack by Johnston’s Army during the Utah War (1857-58).  This 2,500 man force was sent by President James Buchanan to silence what was perceived to be a rebellion by the Mormons.

The dry masonry wall, constructed of uncut stones stacked on random courses without mortar were 1 to 2 feet above ground and 4 to 12 feet in length.  These fortifications stretched some 12 miles along the [sic] section of Echo Canyon.  These breastworks were part of a larger defensive network that included plans to dam the creek to force the troops against the canyon wall where the breastworks are located, and large trenches across the canyon to impede the passage of horses and men.

More than 1,200 men worked together completing the breastworks on the cliffs in a matter of a few weeks.  However, the peaceful resolution of the Utah War in the early summer of 1858 rendered the fortifications unnecessary.

Extended Research:

The Utah War of 1857-58 was grounded in a dispute between Latter-day Saints and the federal government concerning the extent of local sovereignty.  Utah was organized as a territory as part of the Compromise of 1850.  While this permitted the citizens of Utah to elect a legislature, all executive and judicial officers were appointed by the President.  Millard Fillmore appointed Brigham Young as governor and split the remaining offices between Mormons and Gentiles (a nineteenth century term used in Utah to designate non-Mormons).  Nevertheless, there was continual friction between the Saints and federal appointees. Points of contention included theocratic governance in Utah, alternative judicial structures, Indian affairs, and of course, the practice of polygamy.  In 1851, and again in 1857, a number of federal officers left their posts in Utah claiming that they could not adequately fulfill their duties, and that a military force would be necessary to enforce federal sovereignty in the Territory.[1]

Brigham Young

In March 1857, President James Buchanan was inaugurated as President.  From the beginning, his administration was plagued by growing sectional animosity over the extension of slavery, including the volatile situation in Kansas Territory.  Within weeks of taking office, his administration received a memorial from the Utah Legislature that indicated an unwillingness to submit to the authority of federal officials who did not conform with their expectations.  Soon afterward, Judge W.W. Drummond of the Utah Supreme Court published a letter of resignation that provided a highly inflammatory account of affairs in Utah and demanded military intervention.  The President did not take the trouble to independently investigate these allegations.  Instead, in May he decided to replace Brigham Young as governor and deploy a military expedition to Utah consisting of 2,500 soldiers.

James Buchanan

On July 24, 1857, Brigham Young was informed that a federal army was on its way to Utah.  However, he had received no word of explanation from the Buchanan Administration.  Young feared that the Utah Expedition presaged the reenactment of the Saints’ previous experiences in Missouri and Illinois where they had been dispossessed by a combination of mobs and state militia units.  He also had a bitter taste left in his mouth from a much smaller contingent of troops who had wintered in the Salt Lake Valley from 1854-55.[2]  As a result, Young and his associates prepared a strategy to slow the oncoming army and keep it outside population centers until snow blocked the mountain passes. At the same time, they prepared to defend the Territory from attack.

The breastworks at Echo Canyon were part of this larger strategy.  Echo Canyon was a narrow choke point through which the Utah Expedition had to pass in order to reach the populated areas of the Territory.  Other routes required the army to take a long march around natural barriers that would significantly slow its progress. Fortifying the canyon therefore served two major purposes.  The first was as a strong line of defense in case the army attempted a direct assault through the mountains.  But perhaps more important was the canyon’s value as a deterrent.

Echo Canyon Breastworks. Photo Credit: Kenneth Mays

It is unclear how effective the Mormon defenses might have been in the face of a determined attack.  One Latter-day Saint observer wrote to his wife in the fall of 1857 that the “position [at Echo Canyon] is such with its defenses as to defy any army that may ever seek to break through it.”[3]  Upon seeing the breastworks nine months later, Captain Albert Tracy of the Utah Expedition was less impressed.  Although he noted certain earthworks and walls that would be “difficult to carry,” he concluded that with the proper application of artillery, “the ‘corrals’ of rocks which they had erected by the shelves and gulches and along the ridges of the cliffs, would have been knocked about their ears, and rendered untenable in but a brief time and the way opened for our own light troops from the hills at rear.”[4] 

As a deterrent, however, Echo Canyon proved formidable.  Captain Stewart Van Vliet of the Quartermaster Corps preceded the main body of the Utah Expedition and met with Brigham Young in early September 1857.  Young outlined his defense strategy to Van Vliet who took the message back to the army, and eventually on to Washington.  Van Vliet passed through Echo Canyon both on his way to Great Salt Lake City, and on his way back.  At this time, the Mormons had not prepared significant defenses in the canyon.  Nevertheless, Van Vliet reported that there “is but one road running into the valley on the side which our troops are approaching, and for over fifty miles it passes through narrow canons [sic] and over rugged mountains, which a small force could hold against great odds.”[5]  This report unnerved the senior officer commanding the lead elements of the expedition, Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Alexander, who turned away from the direct course into Utah, only to countermarch.  However, the delay was enough to permit a heavy snow fall that effectively cut-off the road to Great Salt Lake City for the winter.  With the Utah Expedition stuck at the burned-out remains of Fort Bridger, diplomacy was able to resolve the crisis.

For Further Reference:

Primary Sources

Tracy, Albert.  “The Utah War Journal of Capt. Albert Tracy, 1858-1860.”  In Utah Historical Quarterly 13, no. 1,2,3, 4 (January, April, July, October, 1945): 1-119.

Van Vliet, Stewart. “Van Vliet’s Report.” In Mormon Resistance: A Documentary Account of the Utah Expedition, 1857-1858, edited by Leroy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, 50-55. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005, 1958.

Watt, George D.  “Pvt. George D. Watt to Alice Watt, 14 October 1857.”  In At Sword’s Point, Part I: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858, edited by William P. MacKinnon, 361-63.  Norman, Oklahoma: The Arthur C. Clark Company, 2008.

Secondary Sources

Furniss, Norman.  The Mormon Conflict, 1850-1859.  New Haven: Yale University Press, 1960.

MacKinnon, William P., ed. At Sword’s Point, Part I: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858.  Norman, Oklahoma: The Arthur C. Clark Company, 2008.

McKinnon, William P. “Sex, Subalterns, and Steptoe: Army Behavior, Mormon Rage, and Utah War Anxieties,” Utah Historical Quarterly 76, no. 3 (Summer 2008): 227-246.

Rogers, Brent M. Unpopular Sovereignty: Mormons and the Federal Management of Early Utah Territory. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2017.


[1] Brent M. Rogers, Unpopular Sovereignty: Mormons and the Federal Management of Early Utah Territory (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2017).

[2] William P. McKinnon, “Sex, Subalterns, and Steptoe: Army Behavior, Mormon Rage, and Utah War Anxieties,” Utah Historical Quarterly 76, no. 3 (Summer 2008): 227-246.

[3] George D. Watt, “Pvt. George D. Watt to Alice Watt, 14 October 1857,” in At Sword’s Point, Part I: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858, edited by William P. MacKinnon, 361-63 (Norman, Oklahoma: The Arthur C. Clark Company, 2008), 362.

[4] Tracy, Albert.  “The Utah War Journal of Capt. Albert Tracy, 1858-1860.”  In Utah Historical Quarterly 13, no. 1,2,3, 4 (January, April, July, October, 1945): 1-119, 20.

[5] Stewart Van Vliet, “Van Vliet’s Report,” in Mormon Resistance: A Documentary Account of the Utah Expedition, 1857-1858, edited by Leroy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, 50-55 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005, 1958), 53.

Fort Douglas Cemetery

Published / by Aija Moore / Leave a Comment

Write-up by: Aija Moore

Placed by: US Army[1]

GPS Coordinates: 40.760521, -111.825279

Historical Marker Text: 

“The Fort Douglas Cemetery was established in December 1862 under the direction of the commanding officer, Colonel Patrick Edward Connor. On 25 February 1863 the first funeral services were held for those soldiers who fell during the battle of Bear River. James Duane Doty, Utah Territorial Governor 1863-1865, was buried on 15 June 1865. General Connor, first commander of Fort Douglas, was laid to rest on 21 December 1891. 
Those officers and men who have died in the service of their country have chosen this sacred and hallowed ground as their final resting place, they represent Civil War, Spanish American War, World War 1, World War 2, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam Conflict. Also interred are 21 German Prisoners of War from World War 1, and 20 German, 12 Italian and 1 Japanese Prisoner of War from World War 2.
The soldier is required to practice the greatest act of religious training – – sacrifice. He must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. We must remember, only the dead have seen the end of war.
Dedicated May 1966.” 

Photograph by Aija Moore

Extended Research: 

In 1862, General Patrick Edward Connor arrived in Utah Territory to establish a federal military presence in the territory. The announced purpose for the military’s arrival was to protect the Overland Mail Route. However, the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, who already lived in Utah believed that the military was there to watch over them. The federal government questioned the loyalty of the Mormons, and having a military presence in Utah would provide the government with a sense of security.[2] When the troops originally arrived in Utah, they camped near a spring and established Camp Douglas. That original camp became the Post Cemetery a few months later.[3] In 1878, the military permanently established the post and renamed it Fort Douglas, at which point they renamed the cemetery the Fort Douglas Cemetery.[4] Today, the cemetery is four acres and is a part of the larger Fort Douglas area.[5]

General Connor was the most influential person in the development of Fort Douglas and its cemetery. On December 17, 1891, about 30 years after the establishment of the cemetery, Connor passed away. He had requested that a burial plot be set aside for him in the cemetery he helped to create and the military buried him there after his passing.[6] There is a memorial to General Connor; the memorial is a plaque placed on a granite boulder over Connor’s grave. The public funded this monument under the efforts of Colonel Howard C. Price in 1930.[7] Many of Connor’s soldiers were also buried and/or memorialized in Fort Douglas Cemetery. 

Photograph by Aija Moore

The first soldier interred in Fort Douglas Cemetery was Lieutenant Darwin Chase, who passed away on February 4, 1863 after being wounded in the Bear River Massacre.[8] The first monument to be placed in the cemetery was in memory of the soldiers who died during the Bear River Massacre on January 29, 1863 and during a battle in Spanish Fork on April 15, 1863. Unlike Chase, none of those soldiers were buried in Fort Douglas but were instead buried at the sites where they died.[9] These soldiers lost their lives while attacking indigenous peoples. When the Shoshone saw the military approaching, the leader of the tribe, Chief Sagwitch, told his people not to shoot first. Without any warning, Connor and his men attacked.[10] The monument at Fort Douglas Cemetery remembers the deaths of the attackers while it ignores the deaths of the 400 Shoshone men, women, and children who were massacred.[11] Beyond that, Connor was promoted following the massacre, which further disregarded the suffering of the Native people.[12] This was the beginning of the complicated history in Fort Douglas Cemetery of who is memorialized and buried there. 

Not long after the Bear River Massacre, the graves of more soldiers were added, including other soldiers who died during combat with Native Americans.[13] However, US soldiers were not the only people to be buried in the cemetery. Many prisoners of war (POWs) from World War I and World War II are also buried at Fort Douglas Cemetery, including German, Italian, and Japanese soldiers.[14] There is a monument in the cemetery to the German POWs from World War I who are buried there. The American legion and German organizations in the US worked in a joint effort to place the monument in the spring of 1933.[15] The history of the POWs in Fort Douglas is complicated. Eight of the POWs who are buried in the cemetery were killed while in a work camp in Salina, Utah. On July 8, 1945, a guard shot a machine gun into the tents where the POWs were sleeping and killed eight people. This became known as the Salina Massacre.[16] One of the headstones for a German POW has been the subject of controversy. That is because the headstone displays a swastika along with an iron cross, which were symbols of the Nazi regime.[17] There has been debate about whether or not the headstone should remain in the cemetery or be removed, but currently, the headstone is still there, further adding to the question of who is memorialized in the cemetery.  

”Sign at Fort Douglas Cemetery,” Fort Douglas Military Museum, https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6np2rks

The other group of historical significance buried in the Fort Douglas Cemetery is a group of Black soldiers. During and after the Civil War, Black units served in the military including at Fort Douglas.[18] When these soldiers—or former soldiers passed away—they were buried in Fort Douglas cemetery. There are 21 headstones that mark the final resting place of Black people who spent time at or near Fort Douglas.[19] These soldiers are not included in the list of people interred in the cemetery on the historical marker nor is there a monument to them. The history of white military members at Fort Douglas receives much more attention than military members of color, including Black soldiers, but that does not mean that Black military members should be completely ignored. 

“Fort Douglas cemetery ca. 1880s (possibly a funeral).” Fort Douglas Military Museum. 1880s. https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s67662hk.

While Fort Douglas Cemetery has a complicated history, including who is memorialized and who is not, the cemetery has long played a role in the surrounding community. When the Post was originally established, most of Utah’s population consisted of Mormons, which left the non-Mormon population isolated. The cemetery provided a location for non-Mormons to bury their loved ones.[20] Though many of the people buried at Fort Douglas Cemetery were buried during or before WWII, people continue to be buried there and the cemetery continues to play an important role not only in community history but also in the present.[21] 

For Further Reference:

Primary Sources:

Cole, Diane. “Even Fort Douglas Cemetery Has Nazi Graves.” Salt Lake Tribune. April 25, 1985. https://universityofutah.newspapers.com/image/613689163 (Accessed March 1, 2022). 

Critchlow, Harry B. “Memorial Day Recalls Duty to Nation’s Dead: Dust of Many Patriots Rest at Fort Douglas.” The Salt Lake Herald-Republican. May 20, 1917. https://universityofutah.newspapers.com/image/689506359 (Accessed March 1, 2022). 

“Fort Douglas cemetery ca. 1880s (possibly a funeral).” Fort Douglas Military Museum. 1880s. https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s67662hk

“Fort Douglas.” National Park Service. Utah National Register Collection. June 15, 1970. https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s62r7fb7/1224431

“Heroic Dead Will Be Honored Today.” Salt Lake Tribune. May 30, 1912. https://universityofutah.newspapers.com/image/75985027 (Accessed March 1, 2022). 

“Interment of the Remains of the Slain Soldiers.” Union Vedette. April 9, 1864. https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s62f911w/21201052 (Accessed March 1, 2022). 

“Military Attache of German Embassy to Unveil Monument at Fort Douglas.” Salt Lake Telegram. May 27, 1933. https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:87278/s6c264h8/16207325 (Accessed February 13, 2022). 

“Obituaries: Kramer.” Deseret News. June 13, 1973. https://universityofutah.newspapers.com/image/596735409 (Accessed March 1, 2022). 

“Sign at Fort Douglas Cemetery.” Fort Douglas Military Museum. https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6np2rks

Stollar (RL) and Associates Inc. Denver Co. “Final Asbestos Sampling Plan, Fort Douglas Environmental Investigation/Alternative Analysis.” Jun 1, 1991 (Accessed March 1, 2022). 

Secondary Sources:

Clark, Michael J. “Improbably Ambassadors: Black Soldiers at Fort Douglas, 1896-99.” Utah Historical Quarterly vol. 46, no. 3 (January 1978): 282-301. https://doi.org/10.2307/45060628

“Darwin J. Chase – Biography.” The Joseph Smith Papers. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 2022. Accessed April 6, 2022. https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/person/darwin-j-chase

Huffaker, Kirk. “Becoming More Conscientious of Utah’s Sites of Conscience.” Utah Historical Quarterly vol. 85, no. 1 (2017): 6–15. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/utahhistquar.85.1.0006.

“Lieut Darwin Chase (1816-1863) – Find a Grave…” Find a Grave: Lieut Darwin Chase. Find a Grave, 2022. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62181258/darwin-chase

Madsen, Brigham D., and Philip F. Notarianni. “General Patrick Edward Connor, Father of Utah Mining.” In From the Ground Up: A History of Mining in Utah, edited by Colleen Whitley, 58–80. University Press of Colorado, 2006.  https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt4cgn2r.7.

Parry, Darren. The Bear River Massacre: A Shoshone History. Salt Lake City: Common Consent Press, 2019. 

Pedersen, Lyman C., Jr. “Fort Douglas and the Soldiers of the Wasatch: A Final Salute.” Brigham Young University Studies vol. 8, no. 4 (Summer 1968): 449-462. 

Pedersen, Lyman Clarence, Jr. “History of Fort Douglas, Utah.” Utah: Brigham Young University, 1967. https://login.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/history-fort-douglas-utah/docview/288061630/se-2?accountid=14677.


[1] “Fort Douglas,” National Park Service, Utah National Register Collection, June 15, 1970, https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s62r7fb7/1224431

[2] Lyman C. Pedersen Jr., “Fort Douglas and the Soldiers of the Wasatch: A Final Salute,” Brigham Young University Studies vol. 8, no. 4 (Summer 1968): 453. https://jstor.org/stable/43041846

[3]  Lyman C. Pedersen Jr., History of Fort Douglas, Utah, (Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1967), 35. 

[4] Ibid., 90-91. 

[5] Stollar (RL) and Associates Inc. Denver Co, “Final Asbestos Sampling Plan, Fort Douglas Environmental Investigation/Alternative Analysis,” June 1, 1991. 

[6] Brigham D. Madsen and Philip F. Notarianni, “General Patrick Edward Connor, Father of Utah Mining,” in From the Ground Up: A History of Mining in Utah, edited by Colleen Whitely (Colorado: University Press of Colorado, 2006): 79, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt4cgn2r.7

[7] Pedersen Jr., History of Fort Douglas, Utah, 337. 

[8] Pedersen Jr., History of Fort Douglas, Utah, 57-61; “Darwin J. Chase – Biography,” The Joseph Smith Papers (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 2022), accessed April 6, 2022, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/person/darwin-j-chase

[9] Harry B. Critchlow, “Memorial Day Recalls Duty to Nation’s Dead: Dust of Many Patriots Rest at Fort Douglas,” The Salt Lake Herald-Republican, May 20, 1917, https://universityofutah.newspapers.com/image/689506359

[10] Darren Parry, The Bear River Massacre: A Shoshones History, Salt Lake City, 2019, 44. 

[11] Ibid., 37. 

[12] Ibid., 37. 

[13] “Lieut Darwin Chase (1816-1863),” Find a Grave: Lieut Darwin Chase (Find a Grave 2022), https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62181258/darwin-chase; “Interment of the Remains of the Slain Soldiers,” Union Vedette, April 9, 1864, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s62f911w/21201052. 

[14] Diane Cole, “Even Fort Douglas Cemetery Has Nazi Graves,” Salt Lake Tribune, April 25, 1985, https://universityofutah.newspapers.com/image/613689163

[15] “Military Attache of German Embassy to Unveil Monument at Fort Douglas,” Salt Lake Telegram, May 27, 1933, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6c264h8/16207325

[16] Kirk Huffaker, “Becoming More Conscientious of Utah’s Sites of Conscience,” Utah Historical Quarterly vol. 85, no.1 (2017): 12-13, https://www.jsor.org/stable/10.5406.utahhistquar.85.1.0006

[17] Cole, “Even Fort Douglas Cemetery Has Nazi Graves,Salt Lake Tribune, April 25, 1985. 

[18] Michael J. Clark, “Improbably Ambassadors: Black Soldiers at Fort Douglas, 1896-99,” Utah Historical Quarterly vol. 46, no. 3 (January 1978): 283, https://doi.org/10.2307/45060628

[19] Ibid., 282-283. 

[20] Pedersen Jr., History of Fort Douglas, Utah, 220. 

[21] “Obituaries: Kramer,” Deseret News, June 14, 1973, https://universityofutah.com/image/596737409

Pinhook Draw Fight

Published / by Aubrie Strasters / Leave a Comment
Picture By: Aubrie Strasters

write-up by Aubrie Strasters

Placed by: The National Register of Historic Places, Division of State History; Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; Grand County and the Moab Lions Club  

GPS Coordinates: 38° 33′ 58.95″ N, 109° 18′ 15.91″ W   

Photo Taken By: Aubrie Strasters

Photo Taken By: Aubrie Strasters

Historical Marker Text (1):  

Photo of Marker Taken by: Aubrie Strasters

PINHOOK BATTLEGROUND

The Pinhook Battleground Site on Manti-La Sal National Forest encompasses an 80-acre area and features a 20-foot square plot, which is the location of the common grave of eight men who were killed in the Pinhook confrontation. The Pinhook Battle, one of the largest and bloodiest battles between Anglo Americans and American Indians to occur in southeastern Utah, took place in 1881. The fight resulted in the death of eight Colorado posse members, two Moab cattlemen, and an unknown number of American Indians. The dispute was fueled by competition over the land and resources of southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado. The National Register nomination and early commemoration efforts of the site were undertaken by the Moab Lions Club.

Marker placed in 2010

Historical Marker Text (2):

Photo of Marker Taken By: Aubrie Strasters

Left Side:

PINHOOK BATTLE

Photo of Marker Taken By: Aubrie Strasters

This is scared ground. It is the last resting place of eight people killed during one of the bloodiest battles to occur between settlers and American Indians in the Four Corners area. At least five others lost their lives in the fight.

For Centuries, Utes, Paiutes, Navajos and their ancestors had depended on the land. They gathered plants for food and medicines, drank the water, and hunted the wildlife. The mountains were places of safety and spiritual power.

Settlers began arriving in the area during the 1870s. At first the two groups cooperated, but as more cowboys and miners arrived, competition for land and resources escalated. By 1881, little remained of Ute land in Colorado. Large cattle herds in Colorado and Utah threatened to destroy the water sources, land and wildlife essential to the Ute way of life.

Hostility grew out of competition. In May 1881, emotions reached a boiling point. The Utes and Paiutes were stealing and killing livestock in retaliation for losing their lands. Colorado settlers called for an Indian War that would force all Utes out of the state. At a cabin near Delores, Colorado, ranchers confronted Utes traveling with allegedly stolen livestock. Two posses tracked the group for over a month.

Photo of Marker Taken By: Aubrie Strasters

The fight began the morning of June 15, when 36 posse members caught up to the Indians three miles south of here near Warner Lake. The chaotic battle ended here in Pinhook Draw, where most of the Anglo causalities occurred.  By the following day 10 Anglos and three Indians were found dead. This included two Moab cowboys who were in the area herding cattle. If more Indians died, their bodies were retrieved by their comrades and buried elsewhere.  

In the end, Colorado Utes were forced onto reservations in southwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah. Utes in southeastern Utah were able to avoid being moved onto reservations and their descendants now live at White Mesa, South of Blanding.

Left side:

            The Ute and Paiute band included 90 men, women, children, and hundreds of heads of livestock. Did they intentionally lead the posses to this place, where they could have an advantage in battle? Look around you. Imagine the Ute warriors on the hillside before you. What do you think?

Photo of Marker Taken By: Aubrie Strasters

The monument directly in front of you lists the names of the men buried here. It was originally dedicated Nov. 11, 1940 by Grand County and members of the Moab Lions Club. In 1998, the Lions Club had the site listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Historical Marker Text (3):

Photo of Marker Taken By: Aubrie Strasters

IN MEMORY OF

THOSE WHO WERE

MASSACRED BY INDIANS

JUNE 15 1881

BURIED WERE

I.E.WILSON, A.R.WILSON,

H.TARTER, W.TARTER,

J.[?]EATON, G.TAYLOR,

T.CLICK, J.GALLOWAY,

ERECTED 1940 BY GRAND CO

Extended Research:

            The La Sal mountains, known by the Navajos as Dził ‘Ashdlaii which translates to “Five Peaks,” have been a source of natural resources since the first humans arrived in the desert landscape that Grand County is known for. Among the red rock landscape sits a mountain range that has provided the water, wild life, vegetation and minerals needed to sustain cultures dating back to the Paleo-Americans, which is believed to be the first culture to call these mountains home.[1] Mormon missionaries arrived in 1855 and failed to colonize indigenous land due to tribal claims on the land. After finding mineral wealth in the mountains and decades of the government reducing native claims on their lands, the area saw its first permanent settlements of Ethno-European peoples in the 1870s.[2] These settlers consisted of farmers, cattlemen, miners and Mormon homesteaders.[3]

Though at first the newcomers and the indigenous inhabitants seemed to be able to share the resources that the mountains offered, more settlers followed which put strains on the area’s resources. Cattlemen drove off wildlife. Ranchers and farmers diverted and polluted water for increased land use. Subsequent settlers further encroached on indigenous territory.[4] Their impact on the natural resources became a problem for Ute and Paiute peoples as those societies had relied on the land for generations to supply them with all of life’s necessities. The encroachment disrespected sacred and culturally significant sites for those indigenous nations.[5]

In response, the Native peoples tried several tactics designed to drive the settlers away. They destroyed fences and cabins. They killed, stole or mutilated livestock and horses. They made threats towards the settlers and in some incidences fired at them.[6] White settlers demanded retribution on the Native peoples. They called for war against the tribes seeing it as a duty to their god to use the land for “progress” in the spirit of Manifest Destiny.[7] Where the settlers saw progress, the indigenous people saw destruction of their way of life.  

The story to the lead up of the Pinhook Draw fight is disputed. There was an incident at the cabin of John Thurman near present day Dove Creek on May 1, 1881, and by the end of the skirmish two men and two horses were dead. The men were Dick May, who was at the cabin to buy horses, and John Thurman, whose body was discovered a half a mile from the cabin. Historians debate the reasons for this fight and who discovered the scene, which could have been a prospector, a cowboy, or a member of the Navajo Nation. According to the white settlers, the dispute started a few days prior when Utes who were involved at the dispute at the cabin were caught trying to steal Thurman’s cattle and were beaten by Thurman and sent away. They returned to the cabin that day in order to exact revenge on the person who had beat them.[8] The Utes’ account came from an interrogation which Indian Agents conducted in the aftermath of the Pinhook Draw fight. It stated that they had met May at the cabin where after answering the door, May threw one of the Utes to the ground and walked over to their horses and shot two of them. The Utes claimed they killed the two men out of anger after May’s actions.[9]

Photo Taken By: Aubrie Strasters

Whichever story is true, this incident is one of many believed by the white settlers to have been perpetrated by this band of Utes. In response, after several other ranchers reported having their livestock stolen and cabins raided, the settlers decided to form a posse to track down and exterminate the Ute band. The initial posse was formed in mid-May and consisted of 12 men, but once they found out how large the band of Utes was, they went back and reenforced their numbers to 25. At the same time another posse, from the mining town of Rico, formed with the goal to recover stolen property, but really their intent was to “fight Indians.”[10] The two posses combined for a force of about 65 men and left to attack the Ute band. By June 15, their numbers had dwindled to under 35 men due to disagreements between the members of the group but this was the first contact with the Ute’s herd. The Ute band had made camp near Warner Lake in the La Sal Mountains and spotted the approaching cowboys. The men from the 90 person Ute band began to prepare for battle and the women prepared to flee with the children.[11]

The posse chased the tribal members through the camp near Warner Lake and for a few miles afterward until they hit Mason Spring. The posse’s leader, Bill Dawson, sent six men ahead to scout out the Ute position. Jordan Bean was among the six and in a later interview he stated the instructions that Dawson gave them was to “overtake the Indians and make a stand on them, and that he would bring the rest as fast as possible.”[12] The Utes led the men into the start of Castle Valley where there are steep cliffs on both sides, giving the Ute fighters the high ground.

Photo Taken By: Aubrie Strasters

The Ute men began to open fire on the posse members below who sought shelter and returned fire. Though the remaining posse was only 150 yards from the fight the majority of them did not join their comrades. Jordan Bean was wounded, knocked unconscious and left on the battleground. When he came to, he made his way to a spring where he found part of the posse moving back onto the battleground the next morning. They took him back to camp to recover where he learned that 9 men were missing. The posse returned for a second day of fighting which ended with a total of ten posse members and two Utes left dead on the battlefield over the two days of fighting. Though the number of Utes who died in the battle and the skirmishes leading up to the event is disputed, it is estimated to have been around 20 indigenous deaths.

Photo Taken By: Aubrie Strasters

The Pinhook Draw Fight has been said to be one of the “largest and most tragic Indian-White confrontation ever in terms of numbers killed,” which may be true for the region.[13] However, over the course of western settlement a significant number of lives have been taken over the ideas of who has a right to use the land and the manner of use that qualifies as correct.[14] The multiple stories of the Pinhook Draw Massacre reflect differing conceptions of land, use, ownership, and access. By colonizing and engaging in violence, the Pinhook Draw Massacre reflects the historical and cultural distance between the La Sal mountains and Dził ‘Ashdlaii.

For Further Reference:

  1. Firmage, Richard A., and Utah State Historical Society. A History of Grand County. Utah Centennial County History Series. 1996.
  2. McPherson, Robert S. “Indians, Anglos, and Ungulates: Resource Competition on the San Juan.” In Northern Navajo Frontier 1860 1900, 51–62. University Press of Colorado, 2001. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt4cgmhk.8.
  3. Rusty Salmon, Robert McPherson, “Cowboys, Indians, and Conflict: The Pinhook Draw Fight, 1881” Utah Historical Quarterly Vol. 69, 2001, No. 1, 4-28
  4. Tanner, Faun McConkie. The Far Country: A Regional History of Moab and La Sal, Utah. 1976.
  5. Utah Daughters of the Pioneers. “Grand Memories.” 1972.

[1] Rusty Salmon, Robert McPherson, “Cowboys, Indians, and Conflict: The Pinhook Draw Fight, 1881” Utah Historical Quarterly Vol. 69, 2001, No. 1, 4-28

[2] Firmage, Richard A., and Utah State Historical Society. A History of Grand County. Utah Centennial County History Series. 1996

[3] “History: Grand County, UT – Official Website,” History | Grand County, UT – Official Website, 2022, https://www.grandcountyutah.net/387/History.

[4] Salmon, McPherson, “Cowboys, Indians, and Conflict,” 4-28.

[5] McPherson, Robert S. “Indians, Anglos, and Ungulates: Resource Competition on the San Juan.” In Northern Navajo Frontier 1860 1900, 51–62. University Press of Colorado, 2001.

[6] Salmon, McPherson, “Cowboys, Indians, and Conflict,” 4-28.

[7] Dolores News, May 22, 1880.

[8] Salmon, McPherson, “Cowboys, Indians, and Conflict,” 4-28.

[9] Agent W. H. Berry to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 18, 1881, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City

[10] Salmon, McPherson, “Cowboys, Indians, and Conflict,” 4-28.

[11] Dolores News, June 16, 1883.

[12] Jordan Bean, “Jordan Beans Story and the Castle Valley Indian Fight,” Colorado Magazine 20 (1943): 19;

[13] Kathy Jordan, “Deadly Confrontation in Utah Took Place Shortly before GJ Incorporated,” Historic 7th Street, n.d., http://www.historic7thstreet.org/remembering/pdfs2/pinhook.pdf.

[14] William Cronon, Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England (New York, NY: Hill and Wang, 2003).

Hill Aerospace Museum

Published / by Max Thompson / Leave a Comment

Write up by: Maxwell Thompson

GPS Coordinates: 

Latitude: 41° 9′ 43.4088” N
Longitude: 112° 1′ 8.5224” W

Historical Marker Text: “1991- This Plaque commemorates the gift of the museum building complex from the citizens of the state of Utah to the United States Air Force—the 1988 and 1989 Utah State Legislatures”

Extended Research: 

The Hill Aerospace Museum is located on the northwest corner of Hill Air Force Base in Roy, Utah. The Air Force base itself was built and activated in 1940 and named after Major Ployer P. Hill, a test pilot who died while testing a plane.[1] The base is the second largest in the Air Force in terms of population as well as its geographic size, with over one million acres of land and 1,700 facilities. For Utahns, the base is the state’s largest single employer site, with over 23,000 people working there.[2] The base was used as a maintenance and supply depot during World War II and then as logistical support for large numbers of aircraft during the Korean and Vietnam wars.[3]

In the 1940s, the museum was originally located on the military base itself, although it was fairly small and only held a WWII display of some weapons and equipment.[4] The Museum grew and eventually moved to its current location in 1987 where it now houses several large planes which are no longer in commission, war equipment, and some educational centers for the children who visit. In 1988, the State of Utah appropriated $5 million for the building of the current museum complex. 

The focus of the Hill Aerospace Museum is on flight and the history of the Air Force. There is a secondary focus on Utah flight history. Throughout the museum there are small plaques with descriptions of Utah Air Force aviators who served their country in different capacities. This is capped off by the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame which is just inside the entrance to the museum. This is a special room that is dedicated to celebrating the contributions that men and women from Utah have made to the world of aviation. With Hill Air Force Base being so close to the museum, there are quite a few aviators who served at Hill who are showcased in the Hall of Fame. 

Inside of the museum are two large areas where different artifacts, mainly planes and helicopters, are displayed. Outside there are very large carrier planes for visitors to see.

 The Museum is comprised of two different sections, both are more like giant plane hangars than a regular museum. Both sections house aircraft from different eras, beginning with World War I, all the way up through some of the popular F-16s that are used in today’s Air Force. Included along with the aircraft, are a series of  uniforms that the military men and women wore while in combat, along with their everyday uniforms. The uniforms are organized chronologically,  set up to parallel the plane era progression.

It is also worth noting that there is an aircraft just outside the museum, which was one of the jets used as  “Air Force One” while  Lyndon B. Johnson was president of the United States. The aircraft has had some work done on it to renovate it after some normal wear and tear from a few years of flight.[5]

In sum, the Aerospace Museum at Hill is filled with planes and helicopters and offers an overview of aviation history. There are plenty of airplanes and aviation artifacts at the museum to capture the attention of visitors, old and young alike.

Former Air Force One plane on display at the Aerospace Museum

For further reference:

Secondary Sources:

“About the Museum,” Hill Aerospace Museum, https://www.aerospaceutah.org/museum/about-the-museum/

“About Us,” Hill Airforce Base, https://www.hill.af.mil/About-Us/.

Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Utah. Hill Aerospace Museum Official Guide Book. 2007.

Hibbard, Charles G. “Hill Air Force Base.” Utah History Encyclopedia. Ed. by Allen Kent Powell. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, 1994. https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/h/HILL_AIR_FORCE_BASE.shtml


[1] Charles G. Hibbard, “Hill Air Force Base,” Utah History Encyclopedia, ed. by Allen Kent Powell (Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, 1994). https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/h/HILL_AIR_FORCE_BASE.shtml

[2] Hibbard, “Hill Air Force Base;” “About Us,” Hill Air Force Base, https://www.hill.af.mil/About-Us/, accessed 9 April 2020.

[3] Hibbard, “Hill Air Force Base.”

[4] “About Us,” Hill Air Force Base, https://www.hill.af.mil/About-Us/, accessed 9 April 2020; “Hill Aerospace Museum,” Hill Air Force Base, https://www.hill.af.mil/Home/Hill-Aerospace-Museum/, accessed 9 April 2020.

[5] Hill Aerospace Museum Plaque.


U.S.S. Utah Bell

Published / by Matt Peplin / Leave a Comment
The bell in its current display

Write-up by Matt Peplin

Placed by: Naval History and Heritage Command

GPS Coordinates: 40° 46’ 0.408” N 111° 50’ 56.94” W

Historical Marker located on each side of bell
Plaque just left of bell from first image

Historical Marker Text: Main Ship’s bell from the USS Utah (BB-31) bronze with later painting of bell shoulder and lip. Originally installed suspended and used for ship functions and ceremonies. It is uncertain if the bell was still on board the Utah in 1941. Conservation treatment completed and bell reinstalled at the University of Utah in 2017.

Courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command, Catalog No. 2016.048.001

Plaque Reads: U.S.S. UTAH 31 AUG. 1911 7 DEC. 1941

Bell Reads: U.S.S. UTAH 1911

Extended Research:

Built by the New York Shipbuilding Company, the U.S.S. Utah launched on December 23, 1909 from Camden, NJ. The ship was sponsored by Mary Alice Spry, daughter of former Utah Governor William Spry and commissioned August 31, 1911 in the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The ship spent most of its early years as a training vessel, operating across the eastern seaboard from as far North as New England and as far South as Cuba. The Utah saw its first “action” in April of 1914 in Veracruz, Mexico. Its battalion at the time (17 officers and 367 sailors) successfully seized the Veracruz customs house, preventing the Germans from supplying arms and munitions to the Mexican dictator, Victoriano Huerta. Seven men were awarded Medals of Honor for their roles the operation. [1]

BB-31 during trials in 1911 (Courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command)

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, the Utah reported to Bantry Bay, Ireland to help escort Allied convoys to the British Isles. Once the hostilities of World War I ended, the Utah participated in the honorary escort of President Woodrow Wilson to France (aboard the George Washington) for the eventual signing of the Treaty of Versailles. In the interwar period, the Utah continued a regular schedule of battle practices and maneuvers. On October 31, 1925 the ship was briefly decommissioned to undergo modernization, switching from coal to oil fuel, among other changes. Notably, the Utah transported President Hoover to South America and back in the winter of 1925. [2]

BB-31 photographed in WW1 with camouflage on hull (Courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command)

On July 1, 1931 the Utah, in accordance with the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, converted from a battleship (BB-31) to a mobile target (AG-16) in the Norfolk Navy Yard. The ship was equipped with a radio control apparatus that could adjust the ship’s speed and course without human hands, among other changes that made it more suitable for training exercises. As a mobile target, the ship was an invaluable teaching tool that gave US navy pilots a realistic objective to practice torpedo bombing, among other maneuvers. The Utah was instrumental in training the next generation of US sailors, who fought in World War 2. After transitioning to a mobile target, the Utah spent the rest of the 1930s on the west coast, primarily off the shores of California. [3]

AG-16 off the coast of Long Beach, CA in 1935 (Courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command)
Wreckage of the Utah in Pearl Harbor, February 1944 (Courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command)

The Utah moved from California to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in September of 1941, the same place it was on the morning of December 7, 1941. The highest ranking officer on the ship at the time was Lieutenant Commander Solomon Isquith, who described the events as follows, “On Sunday, December 7, 1941, while moored at Berth FOX-11 Pearl Harbor, T.H., 3 planes whose identification were not questioned but taken for U.S. planes maneuvering, were observed just as colors were being hoisted at 0800, heading northerly from the harbor entrance. They made a low dive on the southern end of Ford Island and each dropped a bomb.” Isquith adds, “At about 0812, the last mooring lines had parted and the ship was capsized, the keel plainly showing. All men picked up by ship’s boats were taken ashore to Ford Island and boats ordered to return and pick up any men still swimming about.” [4] The Utah sank within the first 10 minutes of the events of Pearl Harbor. Its hulk remains there today. Six officers and fifty-two men from the ship lost their lives. [5]

AG-16 (or BB-31) represented the state it got its name from admirably, providing 30 years of service for this great nation. Some parallels can be drawn between Utah, the state and Utah, the ship. Like the ship, the state of Utah was used for training, preparing, and supplying soldiers for the realities of World War II. The Wendover Air Force Base and its surrounding salt flats helped prepare numerous American airmen and Salt Lake City served as a manufacturing and logistical hub for the army in the West. While the ship is often overshadowed by the U.S.S. Arizona in the tragedy of Pearl Harbor, the state’s WWII contributions are usually overlooked. [6] The outbreak of WWII (in the US) may have sunk the ship, yet the war brought in a tidal wave of jobs and economic activity to the state. The state’s fourteen military installations created nearly 40,000 jobs over the course of the war and the state’s population increased 25% from 1940-1950. The war also transformed the lives of the over 62,000 Utahns who served in WWII, with 3,660 Utahns paying the ultimate price for their nation. Perhaps the Utah and its now memorialized bell can serve as a reminder of the incredible hard work and sacrifice made by thousands of Utahns throughout this period of our nation’s history. [7]

The bell in its original display, outside the Naval Sciences Building on the campus of the University of Utah (Courtesy of the Marriott Library)

The U.S.S Utah Bell and Plaque are located in the Naval Sciences building on the campus of the University of Utah. It was originally donated to the University of Utah in approximately 1965. The bell arrived in Utah from Hawaii after then-Senator Wallace Bennett arranged for the Navy to ship it on an indefinite loan. Rear Adm. E.M. Eller wrote to Bennett on March 14, 1961, “My Dear Senator, the display of this fine relic should make a splendid memorial to the hardy naval [vessel] that bore the name of Utah for 30 years in our country’s service and to the gallant sons of the Beehive State who contributed so nobly to the heroic traditions of the naval service.” [8] The bell sat outside the Naval Sciences building until August of 2016, when it went back east for a stay at the Naval War College’s Senior Enlisted Academy in Newport, Rhode Island. The bell sat in Tomich Hall to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the facility, named after Chief Wartender Peter Tomich, who heroically went down with the ship in Pearl Harbor. After the brief stay in Rhode Island, it went to Richmond, Virginia to undergo a restoration process. It returned to the University of Utah on December 7, 2017 (the 76th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack) and placed where it now sits, inside the Naval Sciences Building. [9]

[1] Cressman, Robert J.. “Utah I (Battleship No. 31),” Naval History and Heritage Command, last modified May 19, 2019. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/u/utah.html  

[2] Cressman, “Utah I.”

[3] Cressman, “Utah I.”

[4] Isquith, Lieutenant Commander S.S.. “USS Utah, Report of Pearl Harbor Attack”, Naval History and Heritage Command, report from December 15, 1941.

[5] Cressman, “Utah I.”

[6] Launius, Roger D. “World War II in Utah,” Utah History Encyclopedia, accessed April 2, 2020

[7] Launius, “World War II.”

[8] Ernest M. Eller, correspondence to Wallace F. Bennett, March 14, 1961. Quoted in Rolly, Paul. “To mark Pearl Harbor Day, the bell from the sunken USS Utah returns to the Beehive State, sounding the toll of history,” The Salt Lake Tribune, December 7, 2017. https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2017/12/07/to-mark-pearl-harbor-day-the-bell-from-the-sunken-uss-utah-returns-to-the-beehive-state-sounding-the-toll-of-history/

[9] Rolly, Paul. “To mark Pearl Harbor Day, the bell from the sunken USS Utah returns to the Beehive State, sounding the toll of history,” The Salt Lake Tribune, December 7, 2017. https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2017/12/07/to-mark-pearl-harbor-day-the-bell-from-the-sunken-uss-utah-returns-to-the-beehive-state-sounding-the-toll-of-history/

For Further Reference:

Primary Sources:

Isquith, Lieutenant Commander S.S.. “USS Utah, Report of Pearl Harbor Attack”, Naval History and Heritage Command, report from December 15, 1941. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/archives/digitized-collections/action-reports/wwii-pearl-harbor-attack/ships-s-z/uss-utah-ag-16-action-report.html

Secondary Sources:

Cressman, Robert J.. “Utah I (Battleship No. 31),” Naval History and Heritage Command, last   modified May 19, 2019. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/u/utah.html

Launius, Roger D.. “World War II in Utah,” Utah History Encyclopedia, accessed April 2, 2020. https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/w/WWII.shtml

Rolly, Paul. “To mark Pearl Harbor Day, the bell from the sunken USS Utah returns to the Beehive State, sounding the toll of history,” The Salt Lake Tribune, December 7, 2017. https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2017/12/07/to-mark-pearl-harbor-day-the-bell-from-the-sunken-uss-utah-returns-to-the-beehive-state-sounding-the-toll-of-history/

“U.S.S. Utah Ship’s Bell Goes to NROTC Unit,” Utah Daily Chronicle, February 2, 1966. https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=22447115&q=U.S.S.+Utah+&sort=rel

Pioneers of Antimony

Published / by Eric Montague / 7 Comments on Pioneers of Antimony

Pioneers of Antimony

Write-up: Eric Cecil Montague

Placed By: Daughters of Utah Pioneers Forrest Camp · · · Garfield County (1949)

G.P.S. Coordinates: 38° 6.907′ N, 111° 59.8′ W

Historical Marker Text:

In 1873, Albert Guiser and others located in a fertile meadow, which they named Grass Valley. Surveyors camped on a stream, lassoed a young coyote and called the place Coyote Creek. The first L.D.S. settlers were Isaac Riddle and family, who took up land on the east fork of the Sevier River. Later, a school house was built, and the Marion Ward organized with Culbert King as bishop. In 1920 the name was officially changed to Antimony after the antimony mines east of the valley.

A picture on the day of the dedication of the marker with Antimony townswomen – Amber Riddle and Maude Wiley on the left and Esther Mathews and Ethel Savage on the right. (Courtesy of the Mayor’s Office – Antimony, Utah)

Extended Research:

The history of Antimony is a story of diverse groups making a home in a beautiful valley. Much like the story of Utah at large, these groups consisted of Native Americans, early settlers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (L.D.S.), and miners. The fertile valley of Antimony has been known by several names over the years: Clover Flat[1], Grass Valley[2], Coyote[3], and after 1920, Antimony. The latest name was chosen because of the abundant antimony mines in the canyons that surround Antimony and the mining industry that the mineral supported. This valley is covered in lush grass that is naturally irrigated by Otter Creek and the East Fork of the Sevier River.

The primary native people of the valley were Southern Paiute Native Americans. Previously, approximately 10,000 years ago, early native peoples, including the Fremont and Ancestral Puebloan peoples, inhabited Southern Utah.[4] Twenty-seven miles south of Antimony, at the ranch of Jeff Rex, archaeologists found ruins known as the North Creek Shelter Site. These ruins provide insight into the lives of the native peoples that inhabited the area before European settlement. The site, used as temporary shelter by many generations of hunters and travelers, contains artifacts from the Paiutes and earlier native peoples. Artifacts found at North Creek include stone tools, farming equipment, projectiles for hunting, pottery, and other common native objects.[5] The item from the North Creek site that received the most acclaim was a wild potato; this is the earliest documented use of potatoes in North America.[6]

North Creek Shelter Site

The more recent peoples of the region are linguistic relatives of the Utes, known as the Kaiparowits Band of the Southern Paiute.[7] Shoshone bands also occupied the area. Both groups used the substance now known as antimony (a very brittle, bluish-white metallic substance),[8] which they extracted from the canyons around Grass Valley,[9] for tools and weaponry. This Southern Paiute band engaged with Europeans (Mormon settlers and the U.S. Army) during the Black Hawk War (1865–1872), and Europeans settled permanently in the region shortly thereafter. The small Southern Pauite band that lived in Grass Valley called themselves the Paw Goosawd Uhmpuhtseng or Water Clover People.[10]

The earliest Anglo-European contact with the region occurred as a result of the Spanish Trail and the John C. Fremont explorations. A trading path off the Old Spanish Trail called the Gunnison trail was used during the 1830s and 1840s. The trail split at the summit of Salt Creek in Salina Canyon. From there, the path passed through Seven Mile Canyon and Fish Lake, descended along Otter Creek, and continued along the Sevier to the Pahvant Mountains.[11] Trading caravans used this path to supply two economies: goods and slaves. The most prominent trade goods were furs, buckskin, and dried buffalo meat. In addition, the Ute people sold captured Southern Paiutes as slaves to the Spanish traders.[12] Later, in the winter of 1853–1854, Captain John C. Fremont made his fifth and final expedition to the Western territories. During this expedition, Fremont encountered harsh weather and searched for safety. After a long trip through the San Rafael Swell, Capitol Reef, and the Awapa Plateau, Fremont and his group followed Otter Creek into Grass Valley, and there found shelter and recuperated.[13] The party later continued to Parowan for further recovery. In a letter to his sister about his trials, Fremont wrote that “the Mormons saved me and mine from death and starvation.”[14]

During the Black Hawk War, Mormon settler Captain James Andrus received orders from Brigadier General Erastus Snow to conduct a reconnaissance mission throughout Southern Utah to ascertain the strength of Native American communities in the region. This group passed through Grass Valley on September 4, 1866. In Grass Valley, the soldiers found the most “extensive” defense works they had ever encountered, erected by the Southern Paiutes.[15]

Brigham Young, then president of the L.D.S. Church, organized the first Mormon exploration party into Grass Valley in 1873, following the end of the Black Hawk War. The group included Albert K. Therber, William Jex, Abraham Holladay, General William Pace, George Bean, and George Evans. Throughout Southern Utah, Chief Tabiona of the Shoshone tribe served as their guide. During their exploration of Southern Utah, on June 18, 1873, they camped at what is known today as Antimony Bench. That evening, they recorded in their journal that “We were just going to camp for the night when we saw an old coyote with three young ones. We gave chase and caught the little ones, cut their ears off short, tied a paper collar around one’s neck and turned them loose. We named the stream Coyote.”[16] Thus, Grass Valley was renamed Coyote.

In 1873, the first European settler arrived in the valley: Albert Guiser. Guiser and his family owned mines in Oregon, namely the Bonanza, the Brazos, the Pyx, and the Worley mines. He likely came to Utah as a mining speculator because of the propaganda surrounding Utah during the national mining fervor and its promised mineral riches. Guiser established a cattle operation in the valley as well, yet did not establish a permanent settlement or buildings in Coyote, only visiting during summer.[17]

To understand the account of Antimony’s first permanent settlers, one must be acquainted with the practice by the adherents of the Mormon faith known as the United Order. The United Order, established by Brigham Young, was an economic concept based on cooperative and communitarian ideals. In the Order, all property was held in common, whereby its participants’ goal was to become self-sufficient from the external world. Most United Order communities only lasted a few years before dissolving.[18] Two Order communities that had lasting effects on Antimony were Kingston and Circleville. John Rice King, son of the leader of the Order in Kingston, purchased the Antimony Guiser cattle operation as part of the Order.[19] Two prominent future leaders of Antimony came from United Order communities: Isaac Riddle and Culbert King, from Kingston and Circleville, respectively. Riddle used Grass Valley to graze the Order’s cooperative beef herd. The Order from Kingston built a dairy beside Riddle’s ranch in Antimony.[20] After the dissolution of the Order in 1878, Isaac, Culbert, and others came to Grass Valley.

Isaac Riddle was the first permanent settler in Coyote. Riddle was born in Boone County, Kentucky, where his family converted to the Mormon faith and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. He enjoyed his time making shingles for the Nauvoo temple. Riddle spoke of the challenges that he encountered from the “mobbers of Illinois,” who persecuted the Mormons. He also described the troubles of 1844 that the Mormons encountered in Nauvoo at the murder of the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith. Notably, he wrote a description of Smith’s death, stating that “he cannot tell how we felt.” For the next six years, while migrating to Utah, Riddle endured numerous trials. His three-year journey to Winter Quarters in Omaha resulted in his “destitute condition.” To add further challenges, Riddle’s father left him in charge of the family in Omaha for two years when he was only 17 years old. After his arrival in Utah, Brigham Young called on Riddle and Jacob Hamblin to go on a mission to Southern Utah to improve relations with the native people.[21] Riddle’s exploration of Utah resulted in his acquisition of a vast estate throughout Southern Utah. In 1875, Riddle and his son, Isaac Jr., built ranches on the east fork of the Sevier River in Grass Valley.[22] Isaac and his son had explored the area the year before and assessed it to be perfect for cattle because of its abundant water and natural meadows. In addition to Riddle, John Hunt, Joseph Hunt, Gideon Murdock, and Walter Hyatt all used Antimony for cattle grazing.[23] Riddle was a shrewd businessman. To this end, he allotted a part of his ranches as a stopover for travelers on their way to Hole-In-The-Rock.[24] Riddle’s financial interests not only included ranches, but he also established many grist mills and sawmills throughout the region. After the dissolution of the United Order, Riddle owned thousands of cattle, sheep, and horses. He was also a polygamist with multiple wives, which resulted in his incarceration, along with George Q. Cannon, an apostle of the L.D.S. Church, from September 1887 to February 1888 for polygamy under the Edmunds Tucker Act. Riddle died on September 1, 1906.

Isaac Riddle

Isaac Riddle in Prison for Polygamy with George Q. Cannon (L.D.S. Apostle) Riddle is the in the second row, first person on left side

In 1878, around the Riddle Ranch, the town of Antimony began when thirty-three Mormon families—some of whom were friends of the Riddles—moved into the valley. The most noteworthy among the settlers were the Eliza Esther McCullough, Elizabeth Ann Callister, Sarah Elizabeth Pratt, Lydia Ann Webb, and Culbert King families; the Eliza Syrett and Volney King family; the Helen Maria Webb and John King family; the Mary Theodocia Savage and John Dingman Wilcox family; the Esther Clarinda King and George Black family; the Polly Ann Ross and Culbert Levi King family; the Christina Brown and Mortimer W. Warner family; the Charles E. Rowen family; the Knute Peterson family; the Peter Neilson family; and the James Huff family.[25]

Antimony Post Office 1896

Of the first settlers in Antimony, one prominent member of the community, Culbert King, became the spiritual leader of the early Mormon settlers. King was born on January 31, 1836, in the state of New York. His parents joined the L.D.S. Church and moved to Illinois. In Nauvoo, the King family became acquainted with the religious leader, Joseph Smith. Following Smith’s murder they joined the migration of the Saints in 1846, arriving in Utah in 1851. Shortly after their arrival, Brigham Young sent the Kings to Fillmore, Millard County, where they erected the first house in the area. King served as a soldier during both the Walker and Black Hawk wars. Afterward, he became a friend to the Southern Paiutes and became somewhat proficient in speaking their language. After staying for 15 years in Kanosh, he moved to Circleville, Piute County, where he lived in the United Order for several years and served as a member of the ecclesiastical leadership there until the Order dissolved. He then relocated to Grass Valley and, in 1882, became bishop of the L.D.S. ward. From December 1885 to June 1886, he was imprisoned for polygamy. He continued to serve as bishop until 1901 when he was released and ordained a patriarch by Apostle Francis M. Lyman. He died on October 29, 1909. He and his wives were all buried in Antimony.[26]

Culbert King

Culbert King with Primary Assocation

The most prominent non-Mormon settler and early miner in Antimony was Archibald Munchie Hunter. After emigrating from Scotland to the United States through Boston in 1851, Hunter’s career took him across the nation. In 1874, he arrived in Utah and resided in Sevier County as a breeder of thoroughbred racehorses. In 1879, he joined the settlers in Antimony. That he felt at home in Antimony is no surprise, given the communitarian beliefs of the town founders and Hunter’s prominence as a socialist. He spent the rest of his life there, supporting himself by providing supplies to various mining speculations, running a hotel, and raising and exporting his horses to Scotland. The successful mining efforts of Hunter and others gave the town its current name—Antimony—after the mineral that he and others mined in the canyons above the town. When he moved to Antimony in 1879, Hunter became chairman of the school board, and residents who experienced financial difficulties testified to Hunter’s generosity. Hunter cared for his sister, Jane Talbot, and her five children in his home, which he also ran as a hotel. He died in Antimony in 1931 and was buried in Salt Lake City.[27]

Archibald M. Hunter

Archibald Hunter with Family in front of his hotel

Archibald, as a school board trustee and benefactor, is significant to another group of Antimony pioneers: its earliest women. Female pioneers in Antimony influenced the town substantially, most notably as teachers and nurses. Carrie Henry, Lydia Tebbs Winters, and Esther Clarinda Black were the first teachers in Coyote. In 1882, at the home of George Black, the first schoolhouse was built, and in 1885, the school found its more permanent residence in the newly built church, until a dedicated school building was built in 1916. The school’s most remembered teacher was Esther Clarinda Black. One of her students, Lillian McGillvra Abbott, remembered her as having a “pleasant disposition.”[28] Black’s daughter, Esther Black Matthews, revered her mother. She recalled that Black began to teach out of necessity to provide for her family while her husband, George Black, served a mission for the L.D.S. Church in England.[29] Black’s impact on the community cannot be understated due to her effect on the town’s children. Black served for 23 years as the town leader of the youth organization of the L.D.S. Church, named the Primary Association, thus influencing the education and spiritual lives of the town’s children.[30]

Lydia Tebbs Winters with Antimony School Children

In addition to teaching, Esther was also a midwife. Midwifery and nursing were vital to the health of the young town. The first baby born in Antimony was Forrest King, son of John R. and Helen King, on April 1, 1879.[31] Some of the most esteemed nurses were Catherine Wilcox Webb and her two daughters, Helen Matilda Webb King and Lydia Webb Huntley,[32] among whom Catherine’s history is remarkable. Her first husband was Eber Wilcox, a member of Zion’s Camp, a Mormon militia organized by Joseph Smith to reclaim property stolen from members of the faith by Missourians. Wilcox died of cholera while on the Zion’s Camp expedition at Fishing River.[33] Joseph Smith officiated over Catherine’s marriage to her second husband, John Webb, in Kirtland, Ohio.[34] Catherine and her family came to Utah as original overland pioneers with the James Pace Company in 1850[35] and settled in Fillmore. After Catherine’s husband was killed guarding the fort at Fillmore during the Black Hawk War,[36] she joined her children in Coyote. She and her daughters were excellent nurses. Upon Catherine’s death, her obituary said of her that “her sphere of usefulness was unbounded as she assisted at the birth of many and at the bedside of the sick. She knew her profession well and was extensively known and well-beloved by all her acquaintances.”[37]

Catherine Wilcox Webb

From its humble pioneer beginnings, the town now known as Antimony made its mark on the Utah history in both the 19th and 20th centuries. The infamous Butch Cassidy and his group of criminal outlaws often frequented the area when it was known as Coyote and one-time marshal George Black encountered the gang there.[38] The telephone line arrived in Antimony in 1912, permanently connecting the town to the outside world.[39] That same decade, Antimony contributed in two ways to World War I. First, it sent eight of its young men to serve: Alonzo Black, Nelo Brindley, Loril Carpenter, Glen Crabb, Wilford Davis, Gus Lambson, David Nicholes, and Arnold Smoot. All eight returned home with honorable discharges. In addition to its soldiers, two antimony mines shipped ore to ammunition plants as part of the war effort. Following the war, the global influenza pandemic claimed four of Antimony’s residents: George Jolley, Arella Smoot, Thomas Ricketts, and Nephi Black.[40]

The official incorporation of Antimony as a town occurred in 1934, during the peak of its population. The 1880 census counted the town’s population as 125, and it rose in the 1920s and 1930s to its all-time peak of 290. It then precipitously declined until it began to rise again in 2000 and is just over 130 today. In 1938, The Works Progress Administration of the New Deal brought culinary water to Antimony.[41] Its population decline over the 20th century is a result of the difficulties of farming and mining in the region. The antimony mines closed after World War I. Without mining, Antimony had to rely solely on its agriculture. Antimony has always been a farming community, with the potato as its most common crop. The former importance of potato farming is demonstrated all over Antimony today in the potato cellar derelicts that dot the highway and roads throughout town.

Antimony Potato Cellar

While World War II was raging half a world away, L.D.S. Apostle Marion G. Romney spoke at the dedication of the newly built Antimony Ward chapel on April 23, 1944. In his dedicatory prayer, Romney prayed for those from Antimony and the rest of the U.S. who were serving overseas. He said, “Bless our boys and girls in the armed services who are spread out upon the earth in this great war.”[42] Antimony sent the following young men to battle in World War II: Lark Allen, Wayne Allen, Burns Black, Noel Black, Dean Crabb, Keith Crabb, Keith Gates, Robert Gates, Dahl Gleave, Marthell Gleave, George Jolley, R.J. Jolley, Arthell King, Darral King, Eugene King, Fount Lambson, Boyd Lindquist, Verl McInelly, Alton Mathews, Dasel Mathews, Gerald Mathews, Calvin Montague, Cecil Montague, Arden Nay, Clinton Nay, Harvey Nay, Merrill Nay, Guyle Riddle, Ted Riddle, James Sandberg, Lynn Savage, LaMaun Sorenson, Harmon Steed, Robert Steed, Arther Twitchell, Clarence Twitchell, Ephrium Twitchell, Grant Warner, Robert O. Warner, Warren Wildon, Carling Young, and Verl Young. All of these men returned home, except for three who were killed in action: Lark Allen, Ted Riddle, and Arther Twitchell. On Friday, May 30, 1947, the town held a service in honor of its war veterans. It was presided over by the president of the Panguitch L.D.S. Stake, Douglas Q. Cannon, and the bishop of the L.D.S. ward, Chester Allen, who had lost his son, Lark.

Antimony War Veterans Plaque – WWI & WWII

Dedicatory Services for Bronze Plaque Program Cover

Dedicatory Services for Bronze Plaque Program Inside

In 1946, electricity arrived in Antimony. The first home in which the Garkane Power Company installed its service was that of Avera and Ivan Montague.[43] Throughout the first half of the 20th century, dances were held in one of the canyons leading out of Antimony at the Purple Haze dance hall. When it opened, for 50 cents, people from towns around Antimony came to hear the live orchestra and dance late into the night as the sunset cast a purple haze over the canyon. The dance hall closed in the 1960s as the popularity of social dancing subsided.[44]

Throughout the last half of the 20th century, Antimony’s population dwindled, even dipping below 100 residents in 1990. One reason for this was the declining potato crop industry and other farming struggles.[45] Another reason was the pull factor that drew the younger generations of Antimony into larger cities. Population decline usually has a negative economic effect on rural towns. The impact of this is evident in the median income of Antimony households dropping to $22,500 in 2010, as reported by the 2010 census. However, since its lowest population point, Antimony is rebounding, largely due to its tourism and recreational significance, as the town is on the route to Bryce Canyon, a U.S. National Park. Antimony also has the advantage of being part of the American Discovery Trail, a non-motorized trail that one can use to travel across middle America. The trail is “a new breed of national trail—part city, part small town, part forest, part mountains, part desert—all in one trail. Its 6,800+ miles of continuous, multi-use trail stretches from Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware, to Pt. Reyes National Seashore, California.”[46] Furthermore, Mayor Shannon Allen has brought popularity to Antimony with a fireworks display every Independence Day. Antimony is home to many highly popular attractions: the Antimony Mercantile, Otter Creek Reservoir, and the Rockin’ R Ranch. The “Merc” is well-known for its half-pound Antimony Burger, the Rockin’ R for its dude ranch experience, and Otter Creek for its unprecedented trout fishing. As its citizens attest, Antimony owns a special place in Utah’s history.

References

Primary Sources

Abbott, Lillian McGilvra. My Life Story. No Date. http://utahhistoricalmarkers.org/primary-source/1693/

Deseret News (July 1884): 16.

Garfield County News (April 1923): 6.

The Engineering and Mining Journal (1896).

The Joseph Smith Papers, Journals 1 (1832–1839).

Fremont, Capt. J. C. Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the year 1842 and to Oregon and North California in the years 1843-44. Washington: Gales and Seaton, printers, 1845. https://books.google.com/books?id=W8ICAAAAMAAJ&oe=UTF-8

King, Culbert Biographical Sketch of Culbert Levi King. No Date. http://utahhistoricalmarkers.org/primary-source/biographical-sketch-of-culbert-king/

Mathews, Esther Black. A Short Sketch of My Life: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. 1947. http://utahhistoricalmarkers.org/primary-source/a-short-sketch-of-my-life-esther-black-mathews/

Riddle, Isaac. “Autobiography of Isaac Riddle.” In The Descendants of John Riddle, edited by Chauncey Cazier Riddle, 2003. http://utahhistoricalmarkers.org/primary-source/autobiography-of-isaac-riddle/

Utah Department of Heritage & Arts. “Archibald Murchie Hunter Papers.” No date. https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=462879#idm45468671543968.

Utah Digital Newspapers. ” Salt Lake Tribune | 1885-12-13 | The Second District Court.” No date. https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=13144326&page=3&facet_paper=%22Salt+Lake+Tribune%22&date_tdt=%5B1885-12-13T00%3A00%3A00.000Z+TO+1885-12-13T00%3A00%3A00.000Z%5D.

Wallace, John Hankins. Wallace’s Monthly 9 (1883).

Secondary Sources

American Discovery Trail. “INFORMATION ABOUT THE AMERICAN DISCOVERY TRAIL.” No date. https://discoverytrail.org/about/.

Biography of Catherine Narrowmore. Fillmore, Utah: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. No Date.

Brown, Harlow F. Grass Valley History. Ogden: FamilySearch International, 1937.

Chidester, Ida, and Eleanor Bruhn. Golden Nuggets of Pioneer Days: A History of Garfield County. Panguitch, Utah: The Garfield County News, 1949.

Crampton, C. Gregory. “Military Reconnaissance in Southern Utah, 1866.” Utah Historical Quarterly 32, no. 2 (1866): 145–161.

Gottfredson, Peter, Indian Depredations in Utah. Salt Lake City: Press of Skelton Publishing Co., 1919.

Gunnerson, James H. The Fremont Culture: A Study in Culture Dynamics on the Northern Anasazi Frontier, Papers of the Peabody Museum, vol. 59, No. 2. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1920.

Janetski, Joel C., Mark L. Bodily, Bradley A. Newbold, and David T. Yoder. “Deep Human History in Escalante Valley and Southern Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 79, no. 3 (2001): 5–24.

Jensen, Andrew. Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Press of Skelton Publishing Co., 1941.

Kelly, Isabel T. Southern Paiute Ethnography. Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1964.

Louderback, Lisbeth A., Bruce M. Pavlik “Ancient potato use in North America.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, no. 29 (July 2017): 201705540.

Mormon Historic. “North America & Hawaii.” No date. http://mormonhistoricsites.org/zions-camp/.

Newell, Linda King, and Vivian Linford Talbot. A History of Garflied County. Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1998.

Newell, Linda King. A History of Piute County. Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1999.

Nielsen, Mabel Woodard, and Audrie Cuyler Ford. Johns Valley: The Way We Saw It. Springville: Art City Publishing Co., 1971.

Periodic Table of the Elements. “Antimony.” https://mineralseducationcoalition.org/elements/antimony/.

Probasco, Christian. Highway 12 – Hoodoo Lands and the Rim Red and Bryce Canyons, the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Salt Lake City: Utah State University Press, 2005.

Reeve, W. Paul, and Ardis Parshall. Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2010.

“Catherine Webb.” Overland Travel Pioneer Database, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel/pioneers/5927/catherine-webb.

Warner, M. Lane. Antimony, Utah – Its History and Its People 1873-2004, 2nd ed. Provo, Utah 2004.

[1] John Hankins Wallace, Wallace’s Monthly 9 (1883): 625.

[2] Andrew Jensen, Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Press of Skelton Publishing Co., 1941), 4.

[3] Lane M. Warner, Antimony, Utah – Its History and Its People 1873-2004, 2nd ed. (Provo, Utah, 2004), 5.

[4] James H. Gunnerson, The Fremont Culture: A Study in Culture Dynamics on the Northern Anasazi Frontier, Papers of the Peabody Museum, vol. 59, No. 2 (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1920).

[5] Joel C., Janetski et al. “Deep Human History in Escalante Valley and Southern Utah,” Utah Historical Quarterly 79, no. 3 (2001): 5–24.

[6] Lisbeth A. Louderback and Pavlik M. Bruce, “Ancient potato use in North America,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, no. 29. (July 2017): 201705540.

[7] Isabel Kelly, “Southern Paiute Ethnography,” Anthropological Papers No. 69, Glen Canyon Series No. 21 (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1964)

[8] Periodic Table of the Elements, “Antimony,” https://mineralseducationcoalition.org/elements/antimony/.

[9] Warner, Antimony, Utah, 4.

[10] Linda King Newell and Vivian Linford Talbot, A History of Garflied County (Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1998), 62.

[11] Harlow F. Brown, Grass Valley History, (Ogden: FamilySearch International, 1937), 2.

[12] Newell and Talbot, A History of Garflied County, 43.

[13] Brown, Grass Valley History, 2.

[14] Capt. J. C. Fremont, Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the year 1842 and to Oregon and North California in the years 1843-44 (Washington: Gales and Seaton, printers, 1845).

[15] Gregory C. Crampton, “Military Reconnaissance in Southern Utah, 1866,” Utah Historical Quarterly 32, no. 2 (1866): 159.

[16] Peter Gottfredson, Indian Depredations in Utah (Salt Lake City: Press of Skelton Publishing Co., 1919): 324-330.

[17] The Engineering and Mining Journal (1896): 383.

[18] W. Paul Reeve and Ardis Parshall, Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia (Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2010), 287.

[19] Newell and Talbot, A History of Garflied County, 119.

[20] Newell and Talbot, A History of Garflied County, 127.

[21] Riddle, Isaac. 2003. Autobiography of Isaac Riddle in The Descendants of John Riddle. Edited by Chauncey Cazier Riddle.

[22] Jensen, Andrew. 1941. Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Deseret News. 4.

[23] Nielsen, Mabel Woodard, and Audrie Cuyler Ford. 1971. Johns Valley: The Way We Saw It. Springville, UT: Art City Publishing Co. 196.

[24] Probasco, Christian. 2005. Highway 12 – Hoodoo Lands and the Rim Red and Bryce Canyons, the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Utah State University Press. 33.

[25] Chidester, Ida, and Eleanor Bruhn. 1949. Golden Nuggets of Pioneer Days – A History of Garfield County. Panguitch, Utah: The Garfield County News. 124.

[26] Jensen, Andrew. 1941. Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Deseret News. 185

[27] Archibald Murchie Hunter Papers, 1871-1933.  MSS B 68. Utah State Historical Society Archive, Salt Lake City, Utah

[28] Mathews, Esther Black. 1947. A Short Sketch of My Life: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.

[29] Abbott, Lillian McGillvra. My Life Story

[30] Garfield County News. 1923. April 20: 6.

[31] Linda King Newell, A History of Piute County (Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1999), 129.

[32] Newell and Talbot, A History of Garflied County, 120.

[33] http://mormonhistoricsites.org/zions-camp/

[34] The Joseph Smith Papers, Journals, vol. 1 1832-1839.

[35] https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel/pioneers/5927/catherine-webb

[36] Biography of Catherine Narrowmore. Fillmore, Utah: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.

[37] Deseret News. 1884. July 30: 16.

[38] Warner, Antimony, Utah ,96.

[39] Newell and Talbot, A History of Garflied County, 222.

[40] Newell and Talbot, A History of Garflied County, 258.

[41] Newell and Talbot, A History of Garflied County, 294.

[42] Warner, Antimony, Utah, 71.

[43] Newell and Talbot, A History of Garflied County, 300.

[44] Warner, Antimony, Utah, 77.

[45] Newell and Talbot, A History of Garflied County, 337.

[46] https://discoverytrail.org/about/

Antimony Mining Company Stock Certificate

Utah and the Civil War (5) Markers

Published / by Seth Todd / Leave a Comment

Utah and the Civil War Markers (1961):

These historical markers were erected September 30, 1961 by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers (Central Company). It encompasses four markers.

GPS Coordinates (Latitude/Longitude):

40.7767625°, -111.89043469°

Transcript:

“This monument honors the Utah men who answered the call to protect the mail and telegraph lines along the continental route during the Civil War. April 25, 1862 Acting Governor of Utah, Frank Fuller, called for volunteers from the Nauvoo Legion. The next day twenty-four men under Col. Robert T. Burton left for their assignment. Two days later Brigham Young received an authorization from President Abraham Lincoln, through Secretary-of-War Stanton, for a company of cavalry to serve ninety days protecting the same route. One hundred and six men responded for duty under Captain Lot Smith. Later some Utah men joined the 3rd Regiment, California Volunteers, stationed at Fort Douglas, Oct. 1862-July 1866. Other pioneers served in the Civil War before coming to Utah.”

Transcript:

Captain Lot Smith Company:

Joseph S. Rawlings, 1st Lt.

J. Q. Knowlton, 2nd Lt.

Richard H. Atwood, 1st Sgt.

James M. Barlow, 2nd Sgt.

Samuel H. W. Riter, Sgt.

Howard Spencer, Sgt.

Moses Thurston, Sgt.

John P. Wimmer, Sgt.

Andrew Bigler, Corp.

Wm. A. Bringhurst, Corp.

Hiram Clemons, Corp.

Joseph H. Felt, Corp.

John Hoagland, Corp.

Newton Myricn, Corp.

John Neff, Jr., Corp.

Seymore P. Young, Corp.

Moroni W. Alexander

William C. Allen

John Arrowsmith

Isaac Atkinson

William Bagley

Lachoneus Barnard

William H. Bess

John R. Bennion

Samuel R. Bennion

Henry Bird

Edwin Brown

Charles C. Burnham

John Cahoon

Theo J. Calkin

Thomas S. Caldwell

Francis R. Cantwell

Jesse J. Cherry

Peter Cornia

George Cotterell

Everet Covert

James H. Cragun

Charles Crismon Jr.

George W. Davidson

Albert Davis

Henry L. Dolton

Parley P. Draper

Josiah Eardley

Charles Evans”

Transcript:

Captain Lot Smith Company:

Joseph A. Fisher

Wid Fuller

John Gibson

Moses W. Gibson

Joseph Goddard

William Grant

James Green

Edward F. M. Guest

Solomon Hale

Thomas H. Harris

John Helm

Samuel Hill

Ira N. Hinckley

James S. Hixson

Richard Howe

Louis A. Huffaker

Harvey C. Hullinger

James Imlay

Lars Jensen

Powell Johnson

Hiram Kimball, Jr.

Wm. J. Larkins

Thurston Larsen

Leander Lemmon

Daniel C. Lill

Wm. Longstrough

Thomas Lutz

William W. Lutz

William Lynch

Elijah Maxfield

Edwin Merrill

Reuben P. Miller

Mark Murphy

Daniel McNicol

Benjamin Neff

Edward A. Noble

Hiram G. North

Lewis Osborn

Hugh D. Park

Francis Platt

Lewis Polmantur

Francis Prince

Alfred Randall

Adelbert Rice”

Transcript:

Captain Lot Smith Company:

Landon Rich

Wm. H. Rhodes

Alley S. Rose

James Sharp

Emerson D. Shurtleff

Harlon E. Simon

John Standiford

James H. Steed

Joseph J. Taylor

Joseph Terry

William Terry

John H. Walker

William H. Walton

E. Malin Weiler

James H. Wells

Bateman H. Williams

Ephrain H. Williams

Col. Robert T. Burton Company:

Heber P. Kimball, Lt.

Robert J. Golding, Sgt.

Joseph M. Simmons, Sgt.

John W. Woolley, Sgt.

Stephen Taylor, Corp.

James T. Allred

William Carlos

Mark Croxall

Lewis Grant

William J. Harris

Henry Heath

Richard D. Margetts

Orson P. Miles

Lewis N. Neeley

Samuel D. Serrine

Adam Sharp

George Spencer

Joshua Terry

George W. Thatcher

Lewis A. West

James Woods

Brigham Young, Jr.

John W. Young”

Utah and the Civil War Marker (2015), Utah Civil War Casualty:

This historical marker was erected on November 11, 2015 by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (International). It was added as part of the Utah and the Civil War Markers (1961).

GPS Coordinates (Latitude/Longitude):

40.7767625°, -111.89043469°

Transcript:

“Lieutenant Henry Wells Jackson (March 10, 1827- May 27, 1864), was the only Utah battle fatality of the Civil War and the first known Latter-Day Saint to be killed in a U.S. national conflict. Jackson marched in the Mormon Battalion, Company D, musician; panned for gold at Mormon Island (now Folsom Lake), California; and used gold to pay for his wedding. He and Eliza Ann Dibble were married in Salt Lake on February 3, 1850, by Brigham Young. Henry and Eliza started a family and helped establish settlements in Tooele Valley and San Bernardino, California. In 1858, Henry carried mail for George Chorpenning on the Overland Mail Route, a precursor to the Pony Express. Due to bad management, Henry was owed $1,300 in back pay for his mail service. He decided to go back East to try and collect the money. Payment was delayed, so Henry took employment as a wagon master and was ultimately captured by the Confederate Army and held as a prisoner for three months. He was later released in exchange for Confederate prisoners. Because of the way he was treated, he decided to fight for the Union. Henry enlisted with the First Regiment, District of Columbia, Volunteer Cavalry and was commissioned as a lieutenant due to his previous service in the Mormon Battalion. On May 8, 1864, Henry took part in the Battle of White Bridge near Jarrett’s Station, Virginia, and was shot. Due to infection, he died on May 27, 1864, leaving behind his wife and three children. Henry Wells Jackson is buried in Hampton National Cemetery and is remembered for his great sacrifice and love for family and country.”

Extended Research:

            On April 12, 1861, the United States descended into a civil war, portrayed in the contemporary perception as a conflict between an industrial north and a slaveholding south. With this perception, it is often thought of as a war in the southern and eastern United States, excluding the American West from discussion about this uncivil bloodshed. While the American Civil War and its cruel battles remained mainly in the eastern portion of the country, people from its western territories and states participated in various manners. Utah’s role was small and limited, enacting its state militia for only a 90-day service before federal troops from California assumed responsibility. Members of the Nauvoo Legion were ordered to protect the telegraph lines and the overland trails. While the militia accomplished little in terms of warfare, the Nauvoo Legion’s participation helped provide a counterpoint to the American perception about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ loyalty to the United States.

Questions about Latter-day Saints shifted into doubts regarding the loyalty of Latter-day Saints to the Union. Prior to the Civil War, they were viewed as alien to the ideal American community, which was white and Protestant.[1] During the war, this perception became coupled with heavy suspicions that Latter-day Saints collaborated with the Confederates. For example, the governor of Nebraska Territory wrote of “Mormon emigrants,” who “sympathize warmly with the secessionists” and, “If they were disposed to make common cause with the secessionists in our own Territory and Missouri, the Indians also becoming their allies, they could easily exterminate the whole loyal population between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains before relief could be obtained from the Government.”[2] It was not enough that the group traveling through Nebraska were emigrants. They were “Mormon emigrants” who would ally with Native Americans, reflecting the idea that Latter-day Saints were not white through their associations and beliefs about Native Americans in their religious text, “The Book of Mormon.”[3] The religious people were contrary to the ideal American community, which suggested in the eyes of the public that they must be secessionists too. Perhaps, therefore, Simon Cameron reminded President Abraham Lincoln of the Utah War and recommended that another army should be sent to Utah to prevent violence by Latter-day Saints.[4] The “Mormon Problem” expressed before the war became a question of doubt about loyalty.

            Latter-day Saint disloyalty came from their understanding of themselves as a persecuted people. In December 1861, Brigham Young, speaking in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, stated clearly that “never was a wickeder man than the President of the United States, and his associates are very wicked men.”[5] However, Brigham’s words were to express his disdain for the “Gentile” territorial leaders that lived in the state, believing them to have engaged in misconduct against the Latter-day Saints.[6] It reflected his desire for Utah statehood and the corresponding right for Latter-day Saints to govern themselves. Heber C. Kimball, an early Latter-day Saint leader, declared that while he did not pray for the destruction of the government of the United States, he knew that “dissolution, sorrow, weeping and distress are in store for the inhabitants of the United States, because of their conduct towards the people of God.”[7]

For Latter-day Saints, the Civil War thus brought a reliving of previous abuses and a reminder of the recent Utah War where the nation, in their eyes, turned against them once more. As a result, it was easy for Latter-day Saints to view the Civil War as God’s justice enacted against the United States when the war erupted. This is evident in an editorial likely penned by George Q. Cannon, which stated, “Already our boasted land of liberty… is deluged with blood, and will continue to be so until it has atoned for rejecting the Gospel and refusing to avenge the wrongs of our people, and for passively sanctioning the murder of God’s servants.”[8] The Civil War, in the early Latter-day Saint perspective, was justified for the murder of their prophet, Joseph Smith, as well as other abuses. These expressions of frustration, however, when viewed by the American public were seen as further evidence of LDS disloyalty.

           Yet as much as Latter-day Saints expressed fiery indignation toward the United States for their “abuses,” there was a fair amount of conciliation and sympathy as well. Brigham Young did express sorrow for the people in the East.[9] Though angry at the United States federal government, Brigham affirmed Latter-day Saint loyalty to the country. He felt that it was better that his people submitted “to those things which are [unpleasant] than for us to do wrong” when asked if the Utah Territory would secede.[10] His first telegram to the United States reaffirmed Utah’s loyalty to the Constitution and the laws of the land.[11] To help affirm Latter-day Saint allegiance to the Union in the minds of the American people, he offered the Nauvoo Legion as an aid.

President Abraham Lincoln—tasked with the reunification of the country—knew that the survival of the United States rested on maintaining the loyalty of the states and territories remaining in the Union.[12] Part of Lincoln’s duty was to ensure communication lines with the western states and territories remained open. As workers built the transcontinental telegraph, Lincoln realized its importance. During its construction, he had the lines shifted more towards the north, putting the route through Salt Lake City.[13] Moving the route enabled the transcontinental telegraph line to remain open and free from interruptions. If this was not accomplished, communicating with the people in the West would prove long and tedious as it would more likely be done through messengers on horse. It would add further strains to an already stressed country.

It was not only President Lincoln who saw the vitality of communication with the West. Politicians, too, noted its importance. On May 1, 1861, Erastus Corning, an American politician, wrote a letter to Simon Cameron (the Secretary of War at the beginning of the American Civil War) stating:

I also think that it is of vital importance to the Government that the Hannibal and Saint Joseph Railroad be preserved to its owners, and that its free and uninterrupted use be maintained at all times and at all hazards. It furnishes the only accessible and speedy route by which the Government can communicate with Kansas, Nebraska, and Utah, or with its military posts along the Western and Northwestern frontier to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and, if allowed to fall into and remain in the hands of an enemy, it is easy to see how difficult and well-nigh impossible in such an emergency it would be for the Government to preserve its Western Territories and military posts, for the danger to which they would be exposed would indeed be serious, and they could only be supported at immense expense and loss both of time and of means.[14]

However, the trouble did not come from Confederate sympathizers, but from Native Americans. For Native Americans, there was a desperate struggle to survive on dwindling resources as settlers encroached on their territory. Competition for natural resources taxed the natives as more settlers entered Utah.[15] The United States made treaties with the various tribes that comprised Utah territory in disadvantageous ways. They were written in English with terms not explained correctly and made with Native Americans who did not lead the tribe.[16] These treaties often faltered. Reservations were never maintained properly with living conditions proving difficult.[17] It pushed some Native American people to raid emigrant trains and cause general mayhem. For these reasons, Native Americans disrupted communications even prior to the war. During the war it proved alarming as Native Americans in the eastern United States sided with both the Union and the Confederates. There was a legitimate fear that native peoples in the West would join the Confederate cause and eliminate those loyal to the Union.

Feeding Native American peoples would not prove to be a solution. As reported by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the year 1862 in Utah, “To keep [Native Americans] from robbing the stations and committing depredations upon them, and upon the settlers and travelers, the largest expenditures were incurred for flour, wheat, and beef; but it was impossible, with the funds… to furnish them a constant and adequate supply.”[18] Resources were needed elsewhere as the war continued. The question of how to protect the communication lines was eventually solved by bringing forces to ensure Native Americans in the West did not cause issue for the embattled Union instead of using assets to keep peace. “The safe and speedy transportation of mails and of treasure over this route has now become of such vast importance to… the government, it is supposed the funds appropriated… cannot be devoted at the present time to a more useful purpose than the protection of the mail and telegraph lines.”[19] Perhaps surprisingly to the American public, Brigham Young offered Utah’s militia “to take care of all the Indians within [Utah’s] borders.”[20] Until other forces could assume responsibility, the Latter-day Saints had the duty to protect important communication lines, allowing them to prove their loyalty.

            The opportunity for service came shortly after a year of the war had passed. The adjutant-general, Lorenzo Thomas, wrote to Brigham Young on April 28, 1862, allowing him to raise a company to protect the mail routes and telegraph lines. He wrote, “By express direction of the President of the United States you are hereby authorized to raise, arm, and equip one company of cavalry for ninety days’ service.”[21] Brigham Young acted immediately on this letter, ordering Daniel H. Wells, the Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo Legion, to act on the telegram.[22] Daniel H. Wells raised the company with Lot Smith at the head. At the time, Colonel Robert T. Burton and his men were protecting mail routes in northern Utah.[23] As well, Robert T. Burton and his men were instructed “to protect Colonel Hooper, [General] Chauncey W. West, and Judge Kinney.”[24] Lot Smith and his men had different duties. He and his men were to be representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been admonished by Brigham Young to be “kind, forbearing, and righteous in all your acts.”[25] They marched to Fort Bridger in May and then to Independence Rock (both in Wyoming), improving the trail and noting the destruction of mail stations along the way.[26] In July, at Independence Rock, some of the men were instructed to apprehend deserters. Lieutenant J.Q Knowlton captured a horse thief (which resulted in a brief skirmish).[27] At the behest of Brigham Young, they contacted Chief Washakie of the Shoshones to ensure that he remained a friend to the Latter-day Saints.[28] Their last mission involved recovering animals from a Native American raid. On their return in August, a Private Donald McNichol “lost control of his horse” in the Snake River and was pulled under the river current, drowning.[29] Private McNichol’s death was the only loss that the Nauvoo Legion experienced. With their service completed, the United States passed the duty to protect Utah and the mail routes and telegraph lines to Colonel Patrick Edward Connor, a leader of a group of volunteers from California. Connor established Fort Douglas on the bench overlooking Salt Lake City and presided over federal forces in the territory for the duration of the Civil War.

           Utah’s part in the Civil War was limited and small, but for the people involved, it meant a measure of self-preservation. For Native Americans, they sought to maintain their way of life as settlers encroached on their lands, diminishing viable resources. Options for survival changed; raiding and destroying became a method to uphold their rights as a people. As Latter-day Saints were perceived as alien before the conflict, this perception warped as the American public viewed them as secessionists that would consume the West. Latter-day Saint participation, through the Nauvoo Legion, achieved little in terms of warfare. Their service provided instead an opportunity to prove loyalty to a doubting Union and a way for Latter-day Saints to attempt to foster a positive self-image.

For Further Reference

Primary Resources:

Alford, Kenneth L. Utah and the American Civil War: The Written Record. Oklahoma: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 2017.

Corning, Erastus. Erastus Corning to Simon Cameron, May 1, 1861. In Utah and the American Civil War: The Written Record, edited by Alford, Kenneth L. Oklahoma: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 2017.

Dole, William P. “Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.” H.exdoc.1/5. From Office of Indian Affairs, Department of Interior.

Paddock, Algernon. Algernon Paddock to Simon Cameron, June 24, 1861. In Utah and the American Civil War: The Written Record, edited by Alford, Kenneth L. Oklahoma: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 2017.

Thomas, Lorenzo. Lorenzo Thomas to Brigham Young, April 28, 1862. In Utah and the American Civil War: The Written Record, edited by Alford, Kenneth L. Oklahoma: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 2017.

Utah State Archives (Salt Lake City, Utah). Utah Territory Militia; Nauvoo Legion Correspondence, Orders and Reports, 1-2126. Film. Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1966. Found in Family History Library.

Secondary Resources:

Alford, Kenneth L. Civil War Saints. Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2012.

Fluhman, J. Spencer. ‘A Peculiar People’: Anti-Mormonism and the Making of Religion in Nineteenth-Century America. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2012.

Maxwell, John G. The Civil War Years in Utah: The Kingdom of God and the Territory That Did Not Fight. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2016.

Reeve, Paul W. Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.


[1] Spencer J. Fluhman, “A Peculiar People”: Anti-Mormonism and the Making of Religion in Nineteenth-Century America (Chapel Hill, 2012).

[2] Algernon Paddock to Simon Cameron, June 24, 1861, in Utah and the American Civil War: The Written Record, ed. Kenneth L. Alford (Norman, Oklahoma: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 2017), 87.

[3] Paul W. Reeve, Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015).

[4] Alford, Utah and the American Civil War: The Written Record.

[5] John Gary Maxwell, The Civil War Years in Utah: The Kingdom of God and the Territory That Did Not Fight (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2016), 103.

[6] Maxwell, The Civil War Years in Utah.

[7] Kenneth L. Alford, Civil War Saints (Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, Provo Utah, 2012), 97.

[8] Alford, Civil War Saints, 98.

[9] Alford, Civil War Saints.

[10] Alford, Civil War Saints, 111.

[11] Alford, Civil War Saints.

[12] Alford, Civil War Saints.

[13] Alford, Civil War Saints.

[14] Erastus Corning to Simon Cameron, May 1, 1861, in Utah and the American Civil War: The Written Record, ed. Kenneth L. Alford (Norman, Oklahoma: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 2017), 80.

[15] Alford, Civil War Saints.

[16] Alford, Civil War Saints.

[17] Alford, Civil War Saints.

[18] William P. Dole, “Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” (Office of Indian Affairs, Department of Interior, September 12, 1862), 342.

[19] Dole, “Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,” 342.

[20] Alford, Civil War Saints, 72.

[21] Lorenzo Thomas to Brigham Young, April 28, 1862, in Utah and the American Civil War: The Written Record, ed. Kenneth L. Alford (Norman, Oklahoma: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 2017), 142.

[22] Utah State Archives (Salt Lake City, Utah), “Utah Territory Militia; Nauvoo Legion Correspondence, Orders and Reports, 1-2126” (Film, n.d.).

[23] Alford, Civil War Saints.

[24] Maxwell, The Civil War Years in Utah, 136.

[25] Maxwell, The Civil War Years in Utah, 137-138.

[26] Alford, Civil War Saints.

[27] Alford, Civil War Saints.

[28] Alford, Civil War Saints.

[29] Alford, Civil War Saints, 138.