Part 67 (1/2)

When Governor c.u.mming left the territory, the secretary, Francis H.

Wooton, became acting governor. He made himself very offensive to the administration at Was.h.i.+ngton, and President Lincoln appointed Frank Fuller, of New Hamps.h.i.+re, secretary of the territory in his place, and Mr. Fuller proceeded at once to Salt Lake City, where he became acting governor. Later in the year the other federal offices in Utah were filled by the appointment of John W. Dawson, of Indiana, as governor, John F. Kinney as chief justice, and R. P. Flenniken and J. R. Crosby as a.s.sociate justices.

The selection of Dawson as governor was something more than a political mistake. He was the editor and publisher of a party newspaper at Fort Wayne, Indiana, a man of bad morals, and a meddler in politics, who gave the Republican managers in his state a great deal of trouble.

The undoubted fact seems to be that he was sent out to Utah on the recommendation of Indiana politicians of high rank, who wanted to get rid of him, and who gave no attention whatever to the requirements of his office. Arriving at his post early in December, 1861, the new governor incurred the ill will of the Mormons almost immediately by vetoing a bill for a state convention pa.s.sed by the territorial legislature, and a memorial to Congress in favor of the admission of the territory as a state (which Acting Governor Fuller approved). They were very glad, therefore, to take advantage of any mistake he might make; and he almost at once gave them their opportunity, by making improper advances to a woman whom he had employed to do some work. She, as Dawson expressed it to one of his colleagues, ”was fool enough to tell of it,”

and Dawson, learning immediately that the Mormons meditated a severe vengeance, at once made preparations for his departure.

The Deseret News of January 1, 1862, in an editorial on the departure of the governor, said that for eight or ten days he had been confined to his room and reported insane; that, when he left, he took with him his physician and four guards, ”to each of whom, as reported last evening, $100 is promised in the event that they guard him faithfully, and prevent his being killed or becoming qualified for the office of chamberlain in the King's palace, till he shall have arrived at and pa.s.sed the eastern boundary of the territory.” After indicating that he had committed an offence against a lady which, under the common law, if enforced, ”would have caused him to have bitten the dust,” the News added: ”Why he selected the individuals named for his bodyguard no one with whom we have conversed has been able to determine. That they will do him justice, and see him safely out of the territory, there can be no doubt.”

The hints thus plainly given were carried out. Beadle's account says, ”He was waylaid in Weber canyon, and received shocking and almost emasculating injuries from three Mormon lads.”* Stenhouse says: ”He was dreadfully maltreated by some Mormon rowdies who a.s.sumed, 'for the fun of the thing,' to be the avengers of an alleged insult. Governor Dawson had been betrayed into an offence, and his punishment was heavy.”** Mrs.

Waite says that the Mormons laid a trap for the governor, as they had done for Steptoe; but the evidence indicates that, in Dawson's case, the victim was himself to blame for the opportunity he gave.

* ”Polygamy,” p. 195.

** ”Rocky Mountain Saints,” p. 592.

Stenhouse says that the Mormon authorities were very angry because of the aggravated character of the punishment dealt out to the governor, as they simply wanted him sent away disgraced, and that they had all his a.s.sailants shot. This is practically confirmed by the Mormon historian Whitney, who says that one of the a.s.sailants was a relative of the woman insulted, and the others ”merely drunken desperadoes and robbers who,”

he explains, ”were soon afterward arrested for their cowardly and brutal a.s.sault upon the fleeing official. One of them, Lot Huntington, was shot by Deputy Sheriff O. P. Rockwell [so often Young's instrument in such cases] on January 26, in Rush Valley, while attempting to escape from the officers, and two others, John P. Smith and Moroni Clawson, were killed during a similar attempt next day by the police of Salt Lake City. Their confederates were tried and duly punished.”*

* ”History of Utah,” Vol. II, p. 38.

The departure of Governor Dawson left the executive office again in charge of Secretary Fuller. Early in 1862 the Indians threatened the overland mail route, and Fuller, having received instruction from Montgomery Blair to keep the route open at all hazards, called for thirty men to serve for thirty days. These were supplied by the Mormons.

In the following April, the Indian troubles continuing, Governor Fuller, Chief Justice Kinney, and officers of the Overland Mail and Pacific Telegraph Companies united in a letter to Secretary Stanton asking that Superintendent of Indian Affairs Doty be authorized to raise a regiment of mounted rangers in the territory, with officers appointed by him, to keep open communication. These pet.i.tioners, observes Tullidge, ”had overrated the federal power in Utah, as embodied in themselves, for such a service, when they overlooked ex-Governor Young” and others.* Young had no intention of permitting any kind of a federal force to supplant his Legion. He at once telegraphed to the Utah Delegate in Was.h.i.+ngton that the Utah militia (alias Nauvoo Legion) were competent to furnish the necessary protection. As a result of this presentation of the matter, Adjutant General L. L. Thomas, on April 28, addressed a reply to the pet.i.tion for protection, not to any of the federal officers in Utah, but to ”Mr. Brigham Young,” saying, ”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.”* The order for carrying out these instructions was placed by the head of the Nauvoo Legion, ”General” Wells--who ordered the burning of the government trains in 1857--in the hands of Major Lot Smith, who carried out that order!

* Tullidge's ”History of Salt Lake City,” p. 252.

** Vol. II, Series 3, p. 27, War of the Rebellion, official records.

Judges Flenniken and Crosby took their departure from the territory a month later than Dawson, and Thomas J. Drake of Michigan and Charles B. Waite of Illinois* were named as their successors, and on March 31 Stephen S. Harding of Milan, Indiana, a lawyer, was appointed governor.

The new officers arrived in July.

* After leaving Utah Judge Waite was appointed district attorney for Idaho, was elected to Congress, and published ”A History of the Christian Religion,” and other books. His wife, author of ”The Mormon Prophet,” was a graduate of Oberlin College and of the Union College of Law in Chicago, a member of the Illinois bar, founder of the Chicago Law Times, and manager of the publis.h.i.+ng firm of C. W. Waite & Co.

At this time the Mormons were again seeking admission for the State of Deseret. They had had a const.i.tution prepared for submission to Congress, had nominated Young for governor and Kimball for lieutenant governor, and the legislature, in advance, had chosen W. H. Hooper and George Q. Cannon the United States senators. But Utah was not then admitted, while, on the other hand, an anti-polygamy bill (to be described later) was pa.s.sed, and signed by President Lincoln on July 2.

During the month preceding the arrival of Governor Harding, another tragedy had been enacted in the territory. Among the church members was a Welshman named Joseph Morris, who became possessed of the belief (which, as we have seen, had afflicted brethren from time to time) that he was the recipient of ”revelations.” One of these ”revelations” having directed him to warn Young that he was wandering from the right course, he did this in person, and received a rebuke so emphatic that it quite overcame him. He betook himself, therefore, to a place called Kington Fort, on the Weber River, thirty-five miles north of Salt Lake City, and there he found believers in his prophetic gifts in the local Bishop, and quite a settlement of men and women, almost all foreigners. Young's refusal to satisfy the demand for published ”revelations” gave some standing to a fanatic like Morris, who professed to supply that long-felt want, and he was so prolific in his gift that three clerks were required to write down what was revealed to him. Among his announcements were the date of the coming of Christ and the necessity of ”consecrating” their property in a common fund. Having made a mistake in the date selected for Christ's appearance, the usual apostates sprang up, and, when they took their departure, they claimed the right to carry with them their share of the common effects. In the dispute that ensued, the apostates seized some Morrisite grain on the way to mill, and the Morrisites captured some apostates, and took them prisoners to Kington Fort.

Out of these troubles came the issue of a writ by Judge Kinney for the release of the prisoners, the defiance of this writ by the Morrisites, and a successful appeal to the governor for the use of the militia to enable the marshal to enforce the writ. On the morning of June 13 the Morrisites discovered an armed force, in command of General R. T.

Burton, the marshal's chief deputy, on the mountain that overlooked their settlement, and received from Burton an order to surrender in thirty minutes. Morris announced a ”revelation,” declaring that the Lord would not allow his people to be destroyed. When the thirty minutes had expired, without further warning the Mormon force fired on the Morrisites with a cannon, killing two women outright, and sending the others to cover. But the devotees were not weak-hearted. For three days they kept up a defence, and it was not until their ammunition was exhausted that they raised a white flag. When Burton rode into their settlement and demanded Morris's surrender, that fanatic replied, ”Never.” Burton at once shot him dead, and then badly wounded John Banks, an English convert and a preacher of eloquence, who had joined Morris after rebelling against Young's despotism. Banks died ”suddenly”