prisoner of war and placed on board his ship, or that he be surrendered to the lawful authority of the State. Not receiving an immediate reply, he wrote a more peremptory letter on the 30th. The committee responded by placing the whole correspondence in the hands of Commodore Farragut, the senior naval commander at San Francisco. The latter at once informed Commander Boutwell that he had no right to interfere in the matter, and that he must wait instructions from Washington. He says:

The Constitution requires, before any interference on the part of the General Government, that the legislature shall be convened, if possible, and (if it can not be convened) then upon the application of the executive. Now, I have seen no reason why the legislature could not have been convened long since, yet it has not been done, nor has the governor taken any steps that I know of to call them together.

In all cases within my knowledge the Government of the United States has been very careful not to interfere with the domestic troubles of the States, when they were strictly domestic and no collision was made with the laws of the United States, and they have always been studious in avoiding as much as possible collision with State right principles. The commentators Kent and Story agree that the fact of the reference to the President of the United States by the legislature and executive of the State is the great guarantee of State rights.

I feel no disposition to interfere with your command, but so long as you are within the waters of my command it becomes my duty to restrain you from doing anything to augment the very great excitement in this distracted community until we receive instructions from the Government. All the facts of the case have been fully set before the Government by both parties, and we must patiently await the result.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Commander E. B. BOUTWELL,

D. G. FARRAGUT, Commandant Mare Island.

Commanding United States Ship John Adams, California.

P. S.-We must not act except in case of an overt act against the United States. Yours,

D. G. F.

The vigilance committee continued its sessions until the 18th of August, during which a large number of the unruly element were severely handled and many driven from the city; two were executed. On the last-mentioned date a grand review and military parade was held, in which over 6,000 men participated, after which the fort was dismantled. The cannon and other State arms were delivered up to the State and the membership disintegrated. That it was permitted to carry on its operations so long in defiance of law and order is quite inconceivable. The responsibility for this, already so forcibly expressed by General Sherman and General Wool, is further confirmed by the language of Commodore Farragut in a letter to the Secretary of the Navy dated July 2, 1856: "

a

a Message of the President (Pierce), August 6, 1856, in compliance with Senate resolution of July 28, in relation to the self-styled Vigilance Committee in California. (Senate Ex. Doc. No. 101, Thirty-fourth Congress, first session.) ·

That the governor has acted unwisely from the beginning there is scarcely a doubt; that he could have done anything but call the legislature together, or appeal to the Executive of the United States is equally clear to me; and it seems to me that was what he should have done, as he had neither arms, ammunition, or supporters. After having surrendered the prisoners, Casey and Cora, in the beginning of the outbreak (or virtually sanctioning it), and thus giving satisfactory evidence of his weakness, his proclamation should have been conciliatory and not, as it was, belligerent; and, as it was, should not have allowed his forces to be concentrated in the enemy's camp.

These are my humble views of the conduct of the governor and his general of militia, all of which is respectfully submitted for your consideration, with the hope that my course in the affair will meet with your approbation.

1851-1858.

In the midst of the difficulties which attended the conduct of affairs in Kansas during the three or four years following the creation of that Territory, the Government had found itself confronted with another social problem of no less complication. A Territorial government had been established for Utah by the act of September 9, 1850, and Brigham Young, the supreme head of the Mormon Church, whose members made up almost the entire population of the Territory, had been appointed the first governor. Young's administration had from the beginning been antagonistic to that of the General Government. In the fall of 1851 his tyrannous conduct toward the, Mormon rebellion, anti-Mormon population, and his defiant attitude toward the United States officials whose duties required their residence at Salt Lake City, had become so offensive that the latter were compelled to resign and the former to remove from the Territory." The people of Utah, believing with the spirit of fanatics that Young's appointment of governor was an exercise of Divine selection, and obeying his commands as if they were the revelations from Heaven that he represented them to be, resisted all laws not emanating from him and defied their execution. This situation was laid before Congress by the President in December, 1851, and at other opportunities, but no action was had at that time. Without entering upon a recital of the occurrences of the following years, it will suffice to say that by the 1st of June, 1857, every officer of the United States, judicial and executive, with the exception of two Indian agents, had found it necessary for their own personal safety to withdraw from the Territory, so that there was no government in Utah but the despotism of Brigham Young. Under these circumstances, the situation offering no other solution, the President summarily removed Young from the position of governor, appointed Alfred Cumming as his successor, and other gentlemen to fill the places of those Federal officers who had been driven from the Territory, and sent them with a military force to aid as a posse comitatus.

a H. R. Ex. Doc. No. 25, Thirty-second Congress, second session.

Annual message of President (Buchanan) December 8, 1857 (Richardson's edition, Vol. V, p. 455).

The 1857.

This military force which left Fort Leavenworth on the 18th of July, 1857, was made up of the Second Regiment of Dragoons, the Fifth and Tenth regiments of infantry and Phelps's Utah expedition, Battery of light artillery (B, Fourth)-about 2,500 officers and men, and was known as the "Utah expedition." It was first proposed that the command of this force should be given to Gen. W. S. Harney, but as it was especially desirable that the supervision of the very delicate affairs in Kansas, then in the hands of that officer, should not be disturbed, Col. Albert Sidney Johnston, Second Dragoons, was assigned to the Utah column. The instructions to the commanding officer of the troops, after premising that "the community, and in part the civil government of Utah, are in a state of substantial rebellion against the laws and authority of the United States," go on to say:

If the governor of the Territory, finding the ordinary course of judicial proceedings of the power vested in the United States marshals and other proper officers inadequate for the preservation of the public peace and the due execution of the laws, should make requisition upon you for a military force to aid him as a posse comitatus in the performance of that official duty, you are hereby directed to employ for that purpose the whole or such part of your command as may be required; or should the governor, the judges, or marshals of the Territory find it necessary directly to summon a part of your troops to aid either in the performance of his duties, you will take care that the summons be promptly obeyed. And in no case will you, your officers or men, attack any body of citizens whatever, except on such requisition or summons or in sheer self-defense.

In executing this delicate function of the military power of the United States the civil responsibility will be upon the governor, the judges, and marshals of the Territory. While you are not to be, and can not be, subjected to the orders, strictly speaking, of the governor, you will be responsible for a jealous, harmonious, and thorough cooperation with him, or frequent and full consultation, and will conform your action to his requests and views in all cases where your military judgment and prudence do not forbid nor compel you to modify in execution the movements he may suggest. No doubt is entertained that your conduct will fully meet the moral and professional responsibilities of your trust and justify the high confidence already reposed in you by the Government.

The head of the column left Fort Leavenworth July 18, and was followed closely by the other battalions, arriving at Camp Winfield, about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City, on the 28th of September, where it was met by a letter from Governor Young, inclosing a copy of a proclamation, in which he declares martial law in the Territory, forbids all armed forces from entering it under any pretense whatever, and directing all the Territorial forces to hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's notice to repel any and all such invasion.53 In his letter he directed Colonel Johnston to retire forthwith from the Territory by the same route he entered, or that he could remain in his present camp until spring upon depositing his arms and ammunition with the quartermaster-general of the Territory. To this rodomontade Colonel Alexander, the officer in command of the advance, replied that the troops were there "by the orders of the President of

the United States, and their future movements and operations will depend entirely upon orders issued by competent military authority." Governor Young responded by intercepting the supply trains destined for the United States troops, burning their contents-some 150,000 rations and stampeding the animals; by setting fire to the prairie grass along the line of march; by blocking the road with fallen trees and destroying the fords." When the troops reached Fort Bridger, they found it had been burned to the ground by the Mormons, as well as Fort Supply, 12 miles distant. It was estimated that the number of Mormon militia under the command of Wells was between 5,000 and 7,000. This number is perhaps excessive, but there is reason for believing that his forces largely outnumbered those of Colonel Johnston on their arrival at Fort Bridger. In another letter, dated October 14, Governor Young warns Colonel Johnston of the consequences of his folly in entering the Territory, and concludes:

It, therefore, becomes a matter for your serious consideration, whether it would not be more in accordance with the spirit and institutions of our country to return with your present force, rather than force an issue so unpleasant to all, and which must result in much misery and, perhaps, bloodshed, and, if persisted in, the total destruction of your army. And, furthermore, does it not become a question whether it is more patriotic for officers of the United States army to ward off, by all honorable means, a collision with American citizens, or to further the precipitate move of an indiscreet and rash administration, in plunging a whole Territory into a horrible fratricidal and sanguinary war.

And in a third dated October 16, in which he seeks to defend his position and that of his people, he again counsels them to leave the Territory:

By virtue of my office as governor of the Territory of Utah, I command you to marshal your troops and leave this Territory, for it can be of no possible benefit to you to wickedly waste treasures and blood in prosecuting your course upon the side of a rebellion against the General Government by its administrators. You have had and still have plenty of time to retire within reach of supplies at the east, or to go to Fort Hall. Should you conclude to comply with so just a command and need any assistance to go east, such assistance will be promptly and cheerfully extended. We do not wish to destroy the life of any human being, but, on the contrary, we ardently desire to preserve the lives and liberty of all, so far as it may be in our power. Neither do we wish for the property of the United States, notwithstanding they justly owe us millions.

Governor Cumming arrived at the camp near Fort Bridger on the 19th of November and at once took measures to organize a Territorial government. He issued a proclamation to the people on the 21st, in which, as commander in chief of the militia of Utah, he commanded all armed bodies of individuals by whomsoever organized, to disband and return to their respective homes. "The penalty of disobedience to this command," he concludes "will subject the offenders to the

a Instructions of Major-General Wells, commanding Nauvoo Legion, to Major Taylor, October 4, 1857.

b History of Utah, H. H. Bancroft, pp. 481-542,

punishment due to traitors." 54 It was received by the Mormons with much contempt, and without adequate means of enforcing it it was made by them to appear somewhat ridiculous. The troops, who were short of clothing, rations, and short forage, with timber many miles distant, and with the snow from three to five feet deep, were compelled to winter at Fort Scott, while the Mormon militia returned to the more comfortable valleys, closed all the passes, and waited for spring." In the meantime supplies were being hurried forward and additional troops being assembled to reenforce the army of Utah-the First Regiment of cavalry, the Sixth and Seventh Regiments of infantry, and two light batteries of artillery. Captain Marcy, who had been dispatched to New Mexico for horses and forage, rejoined, after consummating one of the most remarkable marches on record. On the 6th of April, 1858, the President issued a proclamation promising a free and full pardon to all who submit themselves to the just authority of the Federal Government, and warning those "who shall persist in the present rebellion against the United States that they must expect no further lenity, but look to be vigorously dealt with according to their deserts," and declaring that "the military forces now in Utah and hereafter to be sent there will not be withdrawn until the inhabitants of that Territory shall manifest a proper sense of the duty which they owe to this government." This proclamation was sent to Utah by the hands of two commissioners, vested with authority to restore peace. They reached Salt Lake City on the 7th of June, and were followed by the advance troops of the reenforcing column, who reached Camp Scott on the 8th, and entered the valley a few days later, accompanied by Governor Cumming and the new Territorial officers. The surrender of the Mormons was complete and unconditional. Their first determination was to leave the Territory and move southward, burning all their property behind them; and in fact many thousand had commenced the exodus, but were persuaded to return. On the 14th of June Colonel Johnston 55 and Governor Cumming 56 issued proclamations declaring that peace was restored to the Territory and civil law resumed. The troops entered Salt Lake City on the 28th and found it abandoned, but most of the inhabitants returned within a few days, and by the 1st of August the business and social affairs of the Territory had resumed their ordinary channels. The number of troops that were employed to bring about this situation, which was fortunately accomplished without bloodshed, was, in the aggregate, 251 officers and 5,335 men; the total cost a trifle less than $15,000,000.c

a H. R. Ex. Doc. No. 71, Thirty-fifth Congress, first session.

b11 Stat. L., 796.

c Documents accompanying report of Secretary of War, December 6, 1858, Senate Ex. Doc. No. 1, Thirty-fifth Congress, second session; Message of the President, June 10, 1858, relative to the termination of the difficulties in Utah, Senate Ex. Doc. No. 67, Thirty-fifth Congress, first session,